1A fixed share of something that a person or group is entitled to receive or is bound to contribute.

1. 1.1 A limited quantity of a particular product which under official controls can be produced, exported, or imported.
   （产品生产或进出口的）限额，定额
   the country may be exceeding its OPEC quota of 1,100,000 barrels of oil per day

   该国可能要超过每日110万桶的欧佩克限额。

   Example sentencesExamples

   • The government will also abolish import permissions and export quotas.
   • Labour-intensive export industries such as clothing and textiles, which have been limited by export quotas, will absorb most of the new jobs.
   • The main methods are tariffs and quotas to limit imports, plus production subsidies and export subsidies to sustain farm activity and disperse the output.
   • The increase meant the producers exceeded their official quotas by 8.7 percent, according to the report.
   • He said higher export quotas guaranteed a secure market for the local sugar industry and were a basis for growth, which led to employment creation.
   • Thousands of officials found employment in allocating and policing quotas in importing and exporting countries.
   • An import quota directly reduces the quantity of a product that is imported and indirectly reduces the amount of money that the export producers receive.
   • The economic role of the state was to be reduced through privatization, welcoming foreign investments, eliminating import quotas, and reducing tariffs.
   • Countries were each assigned a fixed quota of textiles that could be exported to markets such as the US and Europe.
   • Between now and 2005, tariffs will be slashed on a wide variety of products, and all import quotas will be abolished.
   • Protective safeguards, such as import and export controls, quotas, subsidies etc, will need to be introduced over a clearly agreed transition period to all continents.
   • But sugar is less expensive in that country than in the United States, where critics contend import quotas artificially raise sugar prices.
   • The US is considering imposing tariffs or quotas on steel imports to protect its troubled steel industry.
   • Under the curb, effective for 200 days, higher tariffs will be imposed if imports exceed quotas allocated to importers.
   • The idea that quotas on China's imports will spark a revival in US undergarment manufacturing is misplaced.
   • Both the EU and the French government will come under pressure to fork over handouts to struggling vintners and to push for quotas on New World imports.
   • It might seem as though a quota that limited imports to 50 percent of their pre-quota level would accomplish the same thing.
   • The report said the abolition of import quotas on Chinese textiles and apparel in key markets in 2005 will make China a formidable competitor.
   • Tariffs and import quotas were, in the 1950s, still the principal barriers to trade.
   • The lifting of the import ban and the elimination of import quotas and licenses will seriously affect refined products and synthetic fibers.
   • As tariffs fell, the focus shifted to eliminating import quotas, which distort market behavior and the allocation of resources.

   Synonyms

   permitted amount, permitted quantity, allocation, allotment, share, ration, grant, limit, portion, helping, slice, lot

   allocation, share, allowance, limit, ration, portion, apportionment, assignment, dispensation, slice, slice of the cake
2. 1.2 A fixed minimum or maximum number of a particular group of people allowed to do something, such as immigrants to enter a country, workers to undertake a job, or students to enrol for a course.
   （移民、就业或选课等方面人员数量上的）限额，定额
   the removal of entry quotas encouraged young people to enter universities

   入学限额的取消有助于鼓励年轻人上大学。

   Example sentencesExamples

   • These are the reports that were later used to justify ethnic quotas of immigrants.
   • To raise the enrollment quota of aboriginal students, the new system will add 20 percent instead.
   • Because tribalism creeps in through the way we make appointments to public offices, offer scholarships to students, grant quotas, concessions and contracts to individuals.
   • Combined, these groups report on every aspect of public policy; from changes to the minimum wage to immigration quotas to health care reform.
   • I can understand that many of us want to see more woman representatives in the legislature, and political parties are already supposed to apply a minimum quota of women candidates.
   • Largely foreigners, these newcomers flooded in after the U.S. relaxed its immigration quotas in 1965.
   • And last year the government reduced the quota of Bangladeshi workers it would allow into the country by 25 per cent.
   • These repatriates could only return to the United States as one of the annual quota of 50 immigrants.
   • There would be limits on their rights to buy property, and strict quotas of Cypriot refugees allowed to return to the north.
   • One concession to women in politics was a bill endorsed by the Barre government in June 1979 that required a quota of 20 per cent of women candidates on lists for municipal elections.
   • The 2003 Electoral Law allows a quota of 30 percent for women representatives in the legislative body.
   • The University is considering plans to introduce more rigorous target quotas for admissions of students from disadvantaged backgrounds.
   • So they actually ended up stowed away on a cargo plane - they weren't allowed on because they didn't make the quota for immigration.
   • While Australia might appear to have substantial control over the size of the immigration intake by setting annual quotas for immigrant entry, the extent of control here is partly illusory.
   • While we can say that 733 is a number that equates roughly to our total refugee quota today, it is not a large number.
   • The US is somewhat unique (although not alone) in using categories with set quotas to regulate immigrants coming to this country.
   • Women's groups yesterday act out a skit outside the Ministry of National Defense to call for military academies to increase their enrollment quotas for female students.
   • However, the rush to assimilate, as well as the decreased number of new immigrants because of quotas led to the decline of such publications and of spoken Arabic.
   • The permitted quota of fee paying students for any course is expected to be extended from 25% to as high as 50%.

   Synonyms

   allocation, share, allowance, limit, ration, portion, apportionment, assignment, dispensation, slice, slice of the cake
3. 1.3 (in a system of proportional representation) the minimum number of votes required to elect a candidate.
   （比例代表制用语）当选规定票数，最低票数
   Example sentencesExamples

   • This could see a number of candidates being elected without achieving the quota of votes that has been required in the past.
   • To win the branch vote, a candidate must reach the quota, which is 50% + 1.
   • And for the record, my vote will go to the Greens in the Senate, in the knowledge that should it lose out in the race for a quota, my vote will go to the Democrats.
   • A quota is established as the number of votes a candidate requires to be elected.
   • In that election, he achieved the highest Fianna Fail vote relative to the quota and achieved the fourth highest overall poll in the country.
   • Despite all these, Jim gained 541 first-preference votes and reached the quota when his running mate, Roberts, dropped out of contention.
   • That final count saw Behan, Clear, Callaghan, Scully and Power elected without having reached the quota of 691 votes on Sunday evening.
   • If those second choice candidates reach the required quota, any surplus votes they may have are re-distributed in the same manner.
   • The National Assembly system is based on quotas so no one group will hold a majority.
   • He got a nod for the party at a council election as a candidate some years back but narrowly missed the quota to get elected.
   • The non-party councillor got 1790 votes and was elected on the first count having exceeded the quota by 690 votes.
   • On that occasion, he headed the poll with exactly 100 votes over the quota.
   • By contrast, if you give your second preference to a strong candidate who reaches the quota - but no more - on the first count, the value of your second preference will fall to zero.
   • In general most people voted for local candidates although none got a big enough quota to be elected.
   • After all, he topped the poll and exceeded the quota by 2,440 votes in the last general election.
   • With 363 voted, he was just thirteen short of the quota and was elected on the second count with votes to spare.
   • Loosely, though, to be elected a candidate requires a quota of votes.
4. 1.4 (in the Anglican Church) the proportion of the funds of a parish contributed to the finances of the diocese.
   （英国国教会牧区贡献给主教教区的）资金份额
   Example sentencesExamples

   • London's Lord Mayor and aldermen were again commanded to a levy: and they responded by locking the doors on their packed parish churches until their quotas were filled.
   • The quota that the parish of St Patrick's Church had to meet has been reached and now whatever else the parish can make will be coming back into parish.