The European Union's trade chief said yesterday there was no danger of a shortage of clothes in shops as millions of Chinese sweaters, trousers and bras piled up in ports after exceeding import quotas.

"I can't accept that EU retail businesses should be penalised by the introduction of the agreement we made with China," European Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson said, adding he was confident EU member countries would soon agree to a solution.

"Scare stories" of clothing shortages similar to those of wartime Europe were unjustified, Mr Mandelson told a news conference.

Mr Mandelson yesterday began consulting with member states on a one-to-one basis to prepare the ground for his formal proposal later this week that would unblock Chinese garments stuck at the borders, an EU official said, declining to reveal details.

"Assuming the member states agree to my proposal ... the goods will be unblocked," Mr Mandelson said.

The problem has exposed a rift between EU countries with big retail interests which are keen to ease the import restrictions, and those which still have significant textile industries which are increasingly threatened by foreign competition.

So far there has been no breakthrough in talks between the EU and China on a formula for allowing into the 25-nation bloc imports that overshot their quotas.

The ceilings were agreed in June to limit Chinese clothing exports to the EU which exploded when a former quota system expired on January 1. Within weeks, the quotas began to be hit, triggering a halt in the issuance of new EU import licences.

Retailers have accused Brussels of failing to foresee the problem and say smaller firms will struggle to find alternative countries to make the clothes they hoped to import from China.

"I think they introduced a panic solution, based on good intentions but without thinking about the wider consequences it would have," said Conni Schroeder, head of transport for Danish clothing retailer Bestseller.

"It is hitting many innocent people," she said, adding her company faced a potential loss after blouses and trousers ordered from China were stuck in ports across Europe.

Mr Mandelson yesterday tried to deflect the criticism. "The Commission, member states and the Chinese all bear responsibility but nobody in particular is to blame," he said. "We are dealing with unprecedented circumstances in the global textiles market, given the dramatic surge of Chinese exports."

EU states backed June's deal "with their eyes open", he said The Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Finland and Germany have warned of job losses among retailers unless the EU eases the import curbs. The opposing pressure has come from textile producing countries like France, Italy and Spain.

Separately, China and the United States are due to begin talks this week to seek a deal to regulate the amount of Chinese-made clothing allowed to enter the United States.