Tony Blair said he expected European nations to back the deal

The approval means the clothes - bras, trousers, sweaters, and other items - could head for their final destinations in Europe's shops within a week.

The agreement confounds fears that textile producers such as Italy and Portugal might refuse to sign up.

The row blew up over a sudden surge in Chinese imports this year.

Rushed orders

The scrapping of a global tariff and quota system for textiles at the start of this year opened the door for China's low-cost producers to flood markets in Europe, the US and elsewhere.

The member states have given a green light to the Commission Francoise Le Bail, EU spokeswoman Textile quotas sidestepped How the textile deal was done China summit diary

In some categories of goods, Chinese imports so far in 2005 have been five to seven times more plentiful than the previous year.

In response, the EU agreed quotas on the hardest-hit goods, to come into force in July. The US is considering similar limitations.

But as European retailers rushed to order goods between the agreement's signing and its implementation, several of the categories in question rapidly filled up.

That raised the possibility that there would be no further Chinese supplies till 2006, it stranded goods already ordered and paid for on Europe's frontiers, and it triggered threats of empty shelves from retailers.

Producers versus retailers

To resolve the problem, EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson agreed with his Chinese counterparts to release the goods, but half the stockpile will count against next year's quotas.

But that was dependent on member states backing the deal, which some observers feared could bring differences between countries such as Italy, Portugal, France and Spain, which still have sizable textile industries, and other member states who were listening more to retail groups.

In the end, however, no opposition emerged.

"The member states have given a green light to the Commission to pass this regulation, and the Commission will now do all it can to make sure the regulation is adopted as soon as possible," said EU spokeswoman Francoise Le Bail.