Special trade agreements, known as Outward Processing Trade (OPT) introduced in the 1980s, created favorable conditions for outsourcing of the labor-intensive textile trade within the EU. Under the agreement, EU-based firms were allowed to temporarily report fabrics, or semi-finished garment for making up into ready-to-wear apparel, to an OPT partner country and then re-import the finished product under preferential conditions. Duty is only due on the minimal, value-added, labor carried out in the neighboring country.