QUOTA

[noun] [C] - a fixed amount or number that is officially allowed, esp. of goods that can be brought into a countrySpanish producers are subject to quotas on wine and milk.America cut its sugar import quota by 25% this year to only 758 000 tons, against some 3m tons in 1984.Most of India's coffee exports are restricted by an export quota fixed under the rules of the International Coffee Agreement.The country's production quotas of 1.1 million barrels a day has been doubled.(esp. US) He rejects mandatory racial quotas as ineffective in dealing with discrimination.(figurative) The class contains the usual quota (= number) of troublemakers.