This paper analyses the effects of a shift to a source-specific VER from a quota regime that allows at most the same total imports as under the VER in the context of differentiated oligopoly. The VER, despite injecting more foreign competition into the economy, may generate greater protection for a specified range of non-cooperative conjectures. The level of protection generated by a global quota under Cournot and cooperative conjectures, on the other hand, depends on the degree of product differentiation. Interestingly, the responses of consumers and producers towards the policy shift may not always be conflicting.