The embargo was imposed by the US and EU as Indian exporters had over-utilised the 1998 import quota for specified categories in these countries. It has now been relaxed automatically with the new quota coming into effect, an Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC) official said.

The US embargo on ladies blouses from India came into effect from November 4, and on gents shirts from the last month. Similarly, the EU had banned import of certain garments last month as Indian exporters had overshot the allocated quota for import of these items. "No embargo exists from the new year on export of any garment to US or EU," the AEPC official said.

AEPC, which allocates the garment export quotas to various countries, has been accused by some exporters of not keeping tabs on the quantity released for exports.For instance, the All India Garment Exporters Common Cause Guild has charged that AEPC's failure to monitor the quotas properly led to holding up garment exports worth crore of rupees. However, AEPC chairman A Sakthivel said the export quota to EU overshot the allocated in the expectation of India getting an additional 7,000 tonnes allocated for imports in European nations.

"EU agreed to give the additional quantity but they have not released it yet," he said.