GENEVA. July 6 India Pakistan and other leading clothing and textile exporting nations have asked the United States to drop a new policy requiring extra country-origin documentations for imported goods, the WTO said yesterday, reports AFP.

Saying the measures will strangle trade, the 20 nation International Textile and Clothing Bureau contacted the United States to request negotiations on the policy, which went into effect July 1. the Colombian Presidency of the Bureau told a meeting of the WTO

The United States says it Is acting a prevent illegal trans shipments of goods It be lieves. for example that Hong Kong, the neighbouring Por tugueae enclave of Macau are using their quotas to export China mad<- products

At the same time a group of textile exporters here asked that the next ministerial meeting of the WTO. dur in Singapore in September, ad dress what they < all the lack of implementation of WTO norms on freeing up trade in clothing and textiles

A motion filed Pakistan called this sector one of the most important in global trade accounting for the per cent of

all exports, in 1994 and as much as 20 per cent of the exports of some developing countries.

The motion urges the ministers meeting in Singapore to rush for full implementation of Iruguay Round clauses on textile trade

These call for the elimina ti6n of special market protect ing measures in textile importing countries over a space of 10 years from the conclusion of the Uruguay Round trade talks in 1993 This replaced the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade with the WTO al the start of last year

Besides India, the Pakistani proposal was bac ked by Ai» genUna. Hong Kong. South Ko rea. the six ASEAN countries Peru Egypt Costa Rica Bangladesh Brazil El Salvador Nigeria Austialla and < olom Ina