The US Commerce Department said yesterday that it is planing to start special monitoring to keep track of imports of foreign clothing and other textiles next month.

US Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez announced that the new monitoring system should be in place by the first week of April. The preliminary reports of textile and apparel imports will be posted every other week on a Web site that will be maintained by the Office of Textiles and Apparel under the department.

"This action demonstrates the commitment of this administrationto put in place the tools necessary to enforce our trade agreements and level the playing field to support our domestic textile and apparel industry," Gutierrez said in a statement.

According to data released earlier this month by the US government, imports of textiles and clothing from foreign countries including China surged in January, the first month when global quotas that had been in place for decades were eliminated.