This will boost output, says V. K. Singh Textile entrepreneurs can consider undertaking joint investments to meet the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme’s minimum investment criteria, said V. K. Singh, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Textiles, at an Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC) meeting. Noting that the minimum investment criterion of ₹100 crore under the PLI to make apparels and the condition that the products should have 85% manmade fibre content may be unviable for garment units, Sanjay Jain, chairman of the ICC expert committee on textiles and jute, earlier urged a reduction in the minimum investment criterion. Mr. Jain also pointed out that raising GST rates for garments priced lower than ₹1,000 to 12% from 5% would lead to higher inflation. He appealed to the Ministry to recommend to the Finance Ministry to not raise the rates, for the benefit of MSMEs. Mr. Singh said there were requests for a reduction in the investment criteria. However, two or three industries could collaborate to invest in a company to meet the criteria and achieve higher scales of production.
Source: The Hindu
"Launch of National Single Window System, is a giant leap, towards making India Aatmanirbhar" said Shri Piyush Goyal while Launching the facility. Union Minister for Commerce & Industry, Textiles, Consumer Affairs & Public Distribution Shri Piyush Goyal said that NSWS will usher in Azadi from legacy of running to Govt. offices for approvals and registrations He said that in this 75 weeks of “Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav”, we can share “Azadi ka Amrit” with Investors, Business owners (MSMEs) not only form India but from the world.The Minister said that NSWS would usher in Azadi from legacy of running to Govt. offices, i.e. Ease of doing business & Ease of living Azadi from paperwork, duplication & information asymmetry Azadi from Windows within Window.. The Minister said that PM Modi’s, decisive & bold leadership has enabled & encouraged India to dream bigger His vision has become our mission for the progress of nation & prosperity for crores of citizens Need for a single interface between businesses & Govt at national level has been felt for a long time Speaking on the occasion, Shri Goyal said that this single window portal will become a one-stop-shop for investors for approvals & clearances The portal as of today hosts approvals across 18 Central Departments & 9 States, another 14 Central depts & 5 states will be added by Dec’21 Shri Goyal added that all solutions will be there for all at one click of the mouse through ‘End to End’ facilitation . This would bring Transparency, Accountability & Responsiveness in the ecosystem and all information will.be available on a single dashboard. An applicant Dashboard would be there to apply, track & respond to queries. Services include Know Your Approval (KYA), Common Registration & State registration Form, Document repository & E-Communication Shri Goyal said today India holds the attention of the world & the entire world is looking at India to rise & claim its rightful place as an economic powerhouse.GDP has grown at over 20% in Q1FY22, Exports jumped 45.17% in Aug w.r.t. Aug 2020 Record FDI investment of $81.72 bn in 2020, $ 22.53 bn inflow in first 3 months of this FY ~2X w.r.t. Same period in 2020 Recently, India has jumped to 46th spot on GII, a jump of 35 places in last 6 years He said that with a rapid recovery, we are back on track to become one of the fastest growing large economies Like the other transformative & nation building initiatives launched in the last 7 years The Minister said that NSWS will provide strength to other schemes e.g. Make in India, Startup India, PLI scheme etc. It may be noted that improving India’s business climate is one of the key focus areas of the Government of India. Reiterating its commitment to “Make in India, make for the world”, the government has launched several initiatives recently, including the flagship Production Linked Incentive Scheme (PLI) and the India Industrial Land Bank System. The PLI schemes have been announced for 13 sectors with an overall outlay of USD 27 billion and is set to create manufacturing global champions for an Atmanirbhar Bharat. One such crucial initiative, announced by the Finance Minister in the Union Budget speech 2020, is the ambitious Investment Clearance Cell (ICC). While presenting Budget 2020-21, the Finance Minister announced plans to set up an Investment Clearance Cell (ICC) that will provide “end to end” facilitation and support to investors, including preinvestment advisory, provide information related to land banks and facilitate clearances at Centre and State level. The cell was proposed to operate through a online digital portal. Subsequently, DPIIT along with Invest India initiated the process of developing the portal as a National Single Window System (NSWS), which will provide a single platform to enable investors to identify and obtain approvals and clearances needed by investors, entrepreneurs, and businesses in India. The system is envisioned to address information asymmetry, duplication of information submitted across platforms and authorities and inefficient tracking of approvals and registration faced by investors. Extensive consultations were held with Central departments and States, especially the ones with effective Single Window Systems. Furthermore, discussions were undertaken with Industry associations, professional bodies, and legal firms to understand the expectations from the envisioned single window system. This was followed by the creation of Ministry-wise information dockets comprising of respective approvals and registrations along with relevant trigger conditions and policies. Each ministry undertook an extensive review and validation exercise to ensure all relevant approvals and registrations were covered in the scope of the National Single Window System. While this exercise was conducted by the stakeholders, Invest India undertook the design of overall technology architecture suitable for a system scalable across Ministries & States. Invest India evaluated and selected technology implementation partners and started developing the system. In January 2021, Know Your Approval module was opened for feedback from Industry associations. Meanwhile, Ministries & States started integration with core modules of NSWS for seamless exchange of information. After incorporation of feedback in the KYA module, it was launched in July 2021. While extensive testing and trials were undertaken to test the robustness of NSWS and its integration with Central Departments and States. NSWS has been designed keeping the needs of entrepreneurs and investors at the center.
NSWS provides following online services: - • Know Your Approval (KYA) Service: an intelligent information wizard that generates a list of approvals required by any business to commence operations. It does so by asking the investor a series of dynamic questions about their planned business activities and identifies the applicable approvals basis the responses provided. The questionnaire, simple and user friendly on the surface, has a complex, automated logic built into it to sieve through hundreds of approvals, and shortlists only those relevant to the specific investor or entrepreneur. This service was launched on 21.07.2021 with over 500 approvals across 32 Central Departments and over 2000 approvals across 14 states. This service is only for guidance purposes and does not constitute any legal advice. • Common Registration Form: To ensure a single point of submission of information and documents across Ministries and States, a unified information capturing system along with a common registration form has been introduced. Information is auto-populated on forms, eliminating the need to fill in the same information again. • State registration form: Enables investor to have seamless single click access to respective State Single Window System. • Applicant dashboard: Provides a single online interface to apply, track and respond to the queries pertaining to approvals and registrations across ministries and States. • Document repository: An online centralized storage service for investors to enable onetime document submission and use the same across multiple approvals. This eliminates the need to submit documents at multiple portals. • E-Communication module: Enables online response to queries and clarification requests related to applications by Ministries and States. The beta version of the portal has now been completed and is being opened to all stakeholders and the public as trial soft launch. The beta version of the portal (under Phase I), hosts approvals from 18 Central departments and 9 States and is aimed at guiding investors to the list of business approvals they may need, based on information provided by them. Another 14 Central departments and 5 States will be onboarded by December 2021 (under Phase II) The portal will progressively onboard a greater number of approvals and licenses, based on user / industry feedback. Though extensive testing by Ministries/States is ongoing, and will continue for next three months to stabilize & optimize the platform, it is critical that extensive feedback from the industry users is accommodated to ensure comprehensiveness and high utility for Investors & Entrepreneurs.
Source: PIB
The Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme announced by the government for certain sectors is an important initiative to boost the manufacturing sector" said RBI governor Shaktikanta Das. The Reserve Bank of India Governor Shaktikanta Das said the industry has to exploit the government's Production Linked Incentive scheme that has been rolled out for various sectors including automobile as industry is still reluctant to invest in creating capacities despite record low interest rates. "The Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme announced by the government for certain sectors is an important initiative to boost the manufacturing sector" said RBI governor Shaktikanta Das at the National Management Convention of the All India Management Association on Wednesday. "It is necessary that the sectors and companies which benefit from this scheme utilise this opportunity to further improve their efficiency and competitiveness. In other words, the gains from the scheme should be durable and not one off. A recent RBI study pointed out that banks and financial institutions sanctioned only 220 project proposals of the private companies during 2020-21,a record low in the recent years. The total cost of projects sanctioned too declined sharply to Rs 75,558 crore in 2020-21 from Rs 1,75,830 crore in 2019-20. However, some high there are signs of improvement in Capex and one such indicator is pick up in FDI inflows. FDI equity inflows doubled to $20.8 billion during AprilJuly'2021 from $10 billion a year ago. To help improve investment climate and better attract FDI inflows, the government has introduced production linked incentive schemes across various manufacturing sectors, lowered corporate tax rates with additional cuts for new manufacturing facilities, and undertaken farm and labour reforms among other measures. "As pandemic scars heal and supply conditions are restored with productivity gains that typically accrue after a large shock, a sustained easing of core inflation can be expected and this will reinforce the growth-supportive stance of monetary policy" the Reserve Bank has said in its latest assessment of the Indian economy in its September monthly bulletin. Underscoring the role of global trade in faster economic recovery, the governor stressed the need to push exports to newer destinations and also focus on high-tech exports. " India’s exports of agricultural commodities, including Geographical Indications (GI) certified products to newer destinations, offer favourable prospects for overall export" the governor said. "Furthermore, exports of engineering goods – which account for around one-fourth of India’s total exports – experienced robust growth across product categories and newer markets. To further strengthen the export potential, there is a need to enhance the share of high-tech engineering exports to achieve an ambitious engineering export target of US$ 200 billion by 2030".
Source: Economic Times\
A new strategic economic pact is expected to increase bilateral trade in goods to $100 bn, services t $15 bn in 5 years India and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have formally launched negotiations on a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) that aims at expanding bilateral trade and investment between the two nations. The first round of CEPA negotiations will be held on Thursday and Friday. Both nations aim to sign a deal in six months. A new strategic economic agreement between both nations is expected to increase bilateral trade in goods to $100 billion within five years of the agreement being signed and increase trade in services to $15 billion. "Both sides will aim to conclude negotiations by December 2021 and sign a formal agreement in March 2022 after the completion of internal legal procedures and ratification," commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal said after a meeting with Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, UAE's minister of state for foreign trade in the national capital. A trade deal, if worked out between both nations, will be the first of the bunch of trade agreements that India aims to ink with other developed nations over the next few months. The UAE is currently India’s third-largest trading partner with bilateral trade and the second-largest export destination after the US. On UAE's part, India was its second-largest trading partner in 2019. UAE is also the eighth-largest investor in India, having invested $11 billion between April 2000 and March 2021, while investment by Indian companies in the UAE is estimated to be over $85 billion. Goyal said that both nations decided that discussions should focus on items that would have an early impact on trade. "We decided that items in which we have a clear competitive and comparative advantage for trade between the two nations on both sides in goods and services, will focus on getting items of immediate importance to be agreed upon," he said. For India items of interest will be textiles, jewellery, footwear, leather products and handicrafts. On UAE's side, there will be focus areas such as fintech, food, medical equipment, petrochemical equipment and byproducts, among others, Thani said. India's major exports to the UAE include petroleum products, precious metals, stones, gems and jewellery, minerals, food items such as cereals, sugar, fruits and vegetables, tea, meat, and seafood, textiles, engineering and machinery products, and chemicals. India's top imports from the UAE include petroleum and petroleum products, precious metals, stones, gems and jewellery, minerals, chemicals and wood and wood products. India imported USD 10.9 billion of crude oil from the UAE in 2019-2020. Both ministers emphasized that concluding CEPA negotiations quickly and constructively will further strengthen the deep trade and economic ties between both countries. "Reaffirming their commitment to working together, both Ministers agreed to strengthen the rules-based, transparent, non-discriminatory, open, and inclusive multilateral trading system embodied by the World Trade Organization. They also agreed to work towards a balanced and inclusive outcome at the 12th WTO Ministerial Conference (MC12) in Geneva, Switzerland," an official statement said. "Both Ministers emphasized that CEPA will create new jobs, raise living standards, and provide wider social and economic opportunities in both nations," the statement said. Goyal said he will co-chair the ninth UAE-India high level joint task force on investments with Sheikh Hamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Member of the Abu Dhabi Executive Council. On the investment front, Thani said UAE's regulations have been designed to welcome enterprise and innovation, including 100 per cent foreign ownership laws, efficient business set-up procedures, and long-term visas for investors, key professionals and highachieving students. "It (CEPA) lays the foundations for an ambitious new era, one in which we are able to attract investment and talent to the region, accelerate growth and spur a broad-based economic recovery," Thani said.
Source: Business Standard
Says Covid has asymmetrically affected population, calls for fixing it; also bats for big infra push India’s financial system is maturing and economic growth is on the mend, but the pandemic has asymmetrically affected the population, which must be bridged for sustainable, and inclusive growth, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor Shaktikanta Das said on Wednesday. The RBI governor also lauded the government’s Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme for manufacturing, which has enabled India to be the "home to almost all the leading global mobile phone manufacturers,” leading the country to turn from being an importer to an exporter of mobile phones. “This trend is likely to spill over to other sectors also," he said, adding global players would help enhance India’s share in the Global Value Chain (GVC) and will help build a resilient supply chain network. Such greater GVC participation would enhance the competitiveness of India’s large and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise (MSME) supplier base, the RBI governor said. However, it is necessary that the sectors and companies which benefit from this scheme “utilise this opportunity to further improve their efficiency and competitiveness. In other words, the gains from the scheme should be durable and not one off,” the RBI governor said. He was delivering his keynote address at the National Management Convention of the All India Management Association (AIMA). "India’s financial system has transformed rapidly to support the growing needs of the economy," the RBI governor said. Banks traditionally have been the primary channels of credit in the economy, but nonbank funding channels have opened up. Assets of NBFCs and mutual funds are growing, and funding through corporate bonds is increasing. “This is a sign of a steadily maturing financial system–moving from a bank-dominated financial system to a hybrid one," governor Das said. However, the governor sounded warning bells about the rising inequality brought forward by the pandemic in the country. “History shows that the impact of pandemics, unlike financial and banking crises, could be a lot more asymmetric by affecting the vulnerable segments more. The COVID-19 pandemic is no exception," he said. Das termed the pandemic as a watershed event of the present era, causing widespread devastation of life and livelihood and it is still haunting the global economy in several ways. “There are very few parallels of a shock like COVID-19 in history which left policymakers with no template to navigate through the crisis.” The pandemic has affected the contact-intensive service sectors, which employ a large number of informal, low-skilled and low-wage workers, the hardest. In several emerging and developing economies, lack of health care access has disproportionately affected the family budget of the poor. “Even education which was provided online during the pandemic excluded the lowincome households because of the lack of requisite skills and resources. Overall, there is evidence across countries that the pandemic may have severely dented inclusivity," the RBI governor said. Greater automation would lead to overall productivity gain, but it may also lead to slack in the labour market, he said. Therefore, significant skilling and training are required of the workforce. “We also need to guard against any emergence of “digital divide” as digitisation gains speed after the pandemic,” he said. Traditional education cannot supply enough workforce trained in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) is rising briskly, which would be in demand. Therefore, close involvement of corporate houses would be required to design and implement courses suitable to the changing industrial landscape. “Multilateralism will lose credibility if it fails to ensure equitable access to vaccine across countries. If we can secure the health and immunity of the poor, we would have made a great leap towards inclusive growth,” Das said. In the future, restoring the durability of private consumption, the mainstay of aggregate demand, will be crucial. "More importantly, sustainable growth should entail building on macro fundamentals via medium-term investments, sound financial systems and structural reforms.” To achieve these objectives, Governor Das called for a “big push” to invest in healthcare, education, innovation, physical and digital infrastructure. "We should also continue with further reforms in labour and to benefit from pandemic induced opportunities.”
Source: Business Standard
When taxes on the final product is lower than the taxes charged on inputs, an inverse input tax credit gets accumulated that has to be refunded by the government in the majority of the cases. In its 45th meeting, the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council on September 17 agreed to correct the inverted duty structure on footwear and textiles from January 1, 2022. The Council also decided that a group of ministers (GoM) would be formed to examine the impact of the inverted duty structure on major sectors. To correct the problem of inverted duty structure, the Council would now be considering rationalization of rates and review of exemptions while keeping revenue augmentation in sight.
What is inverted duty structure?
When taxes on the final product is lower than the taxes charged on inputs, an inverse input tax credit gets accumulated that has to be refunded by the government in the majority of the cases. This has created revenue outflow for the government, forcing it to take a relook at its duty structure. Last year's Council meeting in June had decided to defer a decision on rectifying this structure because of the pandemic. The Council agreed that it was not the right time for any kind of rate rationalisation. For leather footwear, on footwear worth less than Rs 1,000, GST is charged at 5% and over that value, the tax is 18%. However, the GST on inputs for these footwear ranges up to 18%. The government annually refunds about Rs 2,000 crore to the footwear sector. The apparel sector too has been subjected to the problem of inverted duty structure. Various stakeholder bodies had made recommendations to the government to correct this anomaly which resulted in input tax credit accumulation that blocked crucial working capital for businesses. Inputs into the MMF fabric segment (fibre and yarn) attract a GST rate of 18% and 12% whereas the GST rate on the MMF fabric is 5 per cent and that for the finished goods apparel is 5% and 12%.
What will the Council do now?
Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman pointed out in a press briefing after the Council meeting that the earlier rate rationalisations had created anomalies in the revenue stream, bringing down the revenue-neutral rate to 11.6% from 15.5%. Within a year of its rollout in 2017, the Council had slashed GST rates of every four items. Out of 1,211 items, rates were slashed for over 350 items across the categories of 0%, five per cent, 12%, 18%, and 28%. It's estimated that rate rationalisation resulted in an annual revenue loss of about Rs 70,000 crore. Revenue slowdown has been a concern since 2019 and the Covid-19 crisis has only exacerbated it. States were promised compensation for the loss of revenue due to GST at a 14% compounded rate for five years till 2022. The slowdown in collection resulted in the Centre facing a crunch to pay the states. The centre last year decided to meet the gap in cess collection for compensation payout to states through borrowings. It borrowed the cess deficit as back-to-back loans to the states. For FY21, Rs 1.10 lakh crore was paid to states through back-to-back loans. According to the Centre, about Rs, 63,000 crore is still pending to the states after the loans and IGST settlement. For FY22, the deficit between actual and projected revenue, post compensation payout is estimated to be Rs 1.59 lakh crore. Out of this, states have been given Rs 75,000 crore as the first tranche. The Council is now looking at methods to augment revenue, one of which would be to correct the inverted duty structure. The rate cuts since the inception of the indirect tax regime has strained both central and state finances, as well as low revenue buoyancy.
Source: Outlook India
Total FDI comprises equity inflows, reinvested earnings and other capital. Foreign direct investments into the country more than doubled to $20.42 billion during the April-July period of the current fiscal, the commerce and industry ministry said on Wednesday. Total Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflow rose to $27.37 billion during the first four months of 2021-22. In the year-ago period, the same was at $16.92 billion. Total FDI comprises equity inflows, reinvested earnings and other capital. FDI equity inflows grew by 112 per cent in the first four months of 2021-22 ($20.42 billion) compared to the year ago period ($9.61 billion)," the ministry said in a release. Automobile industry has emerged as the top sector during the period under review, accounting for 23 per cent share of the total FDI equity inflows followed by computer software & hardware (18 per cent) and services sector (10 per cent), respectively. Karnataka is the top recipient state with 45 per cent share of the total FDI equity inflows followed by Maharashtra (23 per cent) and Delhi (12 per cent). "Measures taken by the government on the fronts of FDI policy reforms, investment facilitation and ease of doing business have resulted in increased FDI inflows into the country," the ministry said.
Source: Business Standard
Measures taken by the Government on the fronts of FDI policy reforms, investment facilitation and ease of doing business have resulted in increased FDI inflows into the country. The following trends in India’s Foreign Direct Investment are an endorsement of its status as a preferred investment destination amongst global investors: • India has attracted total FDI inflow of US$ 27.37 billion during first four months of F.Y. 2021-22 which is 62% higher as compared to corresponding period of F.Y. 2020-21 (US$ 16.92 billion). • FDI equity inflow grew by 112% in the first four months of F.Y. 2021-22 (US$ 20.42 billion) compared to the year ago period (US$ 9.61 billion). • ‘Automobile Industry’ has emerged as the top sector during the first four months of F.Y. 2021-22 with 23% share of the total FDI Equity inflow followed by Computer Software & Hardware (18%) and Services Sector (10%) respectively. • Under the sector `Automobile Industry’, majority of FDI Equity inflow (87%) was reported in the state of Karnataka during the first four months of the current financial year (2021-22). • Karnataka is the top recipient state during the F.Y. 2021-22 (upto July, 2021) with 45% share of the total FDI Equity inflows followed by Maharashtra (23%) and Delhi (12%).
Source: PIB
Garment exporters in the State have welcomed the Tamilnadu Export Promotion policy announced by Chief Minister M.K. Stalin on Wednesday. Chairman of Apparel Export Promotion Council and Federation of Indian Exporters’ Association A. Sakthivel said that setting up of warehouses for cotton in the State and constituting an export development committee would benefit exporters in the State. Raja M. Shanmugham, president of Tiruppur Exporters’ Association, said he was confident the policy would help the State achieve $ 100 billion by 2030 from the current $ 30.53 billion. Textile and related products currently contributed $ 7.38 billion to the total export earnings in the State. This included $ 4 billion from Tiruppur. The schemes announced by the State government on Wednesday would benefit the knitwear units in Tiruppur. Strengthening of export related common infrastructure projects in the export hubs and reimbursement of 25% of the project cost, subject to a ceiling of ₹ 10 crore for each hub would also be beneficial to Tiruppur cluster, he said.
Source: The Hindu
This will allow the country to engage in commerce-as-usual with Japan, Canada, etc, no matter how bad political relations get. Besides, it can also block Taiwan from joining the trade pact China has applied for joining the CPTPP (Comprehensive and Progressive Trans Pacific Partnership). The CPTPP is a major free trade agreement (FTA) between 11 Asia-Pacific countries that are all members of the APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation). The agreement has been functional since December 30, 2018. Japan, Canada and Australia are the three largest economies of the group, followed by Singapore, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, Chile, New Zealand, Brunei and Vietnam. The CPTPP began as the TPP (TransPacific Partnership) led by the US. The signature trade policy initiative of the Barack Obama administration, the TPP tried to implement 21st century trade rules in the Asia-Pacific, to be written and run by the US and its strategic allies. Donald Trump withdrew the US from the TPP immediately after assuming office in January 2017. The move was a huge ‘let down’ for US allies in the Asia-Pacific as it was seen as a clear signal of US disengagement with the region. The TPP, however, survived, as Japan and other prominent middle powers in the group, notably Australia and Canada, worked together to salvage the deal. Some amendments followed and the deal was reborn as the CPTPP. As an APEC member, China is justified in wishing to join a deal comprising 11 other APEC members. Technically, there can’t be any opposition to China’s joining the deal if it is willing to accept the terms and conditions for becoming a member. These conditions, ostensibly, would demand China’s commitment to change domestic policies for enabling CPTPP members to gain greater access to the mainland market, while aligning China’s policies closer to those of other CPTPP members. Indeed, the decision on China’s request, or for that matter, a request from any other country, would be determined by the conviction of CPTPP members in the applying member’s ability to uphold existing rules of the FTA. What are the areas where some rules might be tricky for China? Conditions like investorstate dispute settlement, settling disputes between members, e-commerce rules, competition policy provisions impacting functioning of state-owned enterprises (SOEs), and intellectual property rights, are some. The history of China’s international trade negotiations, particularly at the WTO, however, indicate China might be willing to ‘concede’ more than what many expect it to. Concessions and China’s willingness to abide by the terms of the CPTPP might be influenced by several factors. First, the CPTPP will give it deeper access in member economy markets than some of its existing FTAs, such as the RCEP (Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership) and bilateral FTAs with the ASEAN, and Australia and New Zealand. The CPTPP’s coverage of market access is much wider, both in terms of tariff cuts it entails, as well as the new generation trade issues it covers. Second, it is not just the existing CPTPP member markets that China will be eyeing. It would also be looking at prospective large markets of other new members, such as the UK, which has also applied for joining the CPTPP. Entering the CPTPP helps China in scoring decisive political goals. By entering a deep and comprehensive FTA with ‘sparring’ countries like Canada, Australia, and Japan, it is able to create more institutional mechanisms ensuring ‘business as usual’ commercial relations, even if political relations dive south, as they have in the recent past. Entering CPTPP will also enable China to block future entry of Taiwan in the group. Most importantly, after RCEP, joining CPTPP will enable China to firmly control trade governance in the Asia-Pacific and influence the rules of trade in the region. This is exactly what Obama had highlighted in his appeal to US lawmakers for supporting the TPP. With China in the driver’s seat on trade in the region, efforts to construct economic rules-based arrangements in the Indo-Pacific will run into problems. The regional economic balance can change significantly. Certainly not great news for India, US and other movers and shakers of the Indo-Pacific!
Source: Financial Express
The European Union (EU) on Wednesday extended General System of Preferences (GSP) plus status for Pakistan, with six new Conventions. The EU has expressed its concerns about situation of human rights, press freedom, death penalty and child labour related issues. The European Commission’s (EC) new conventions pertain to greater accessibility for people with physical disability, the eradication of child labour and environmental safety. Pakistan will continue to enjoy GSP plus status till 2022, after which the EU will announce new criterion to qualify for the scheme. The EU has raised issues like human rights, death penalty, restrictions on media etc. The EU is Pakistan’s second most important trading partner, accounting for 14.3% of Pakistan’s total trade in 2020 and absorbing 28% of Pakistan’s total exports.
EU-Pakistan Business Forum to be launched on 8th
In 2020, Pakistan was EU’s 42nd largest trading partner in goods accounting for 0.3% of EU trade. Pakistani exports to the EU are dominated by textiles and clothing, accounting for 75.2% of Pakistan’s total exports to the EU in 2020. Pakistan’s imports from the EU mainly comprise of machinery and transport equipment (33.5% in 2020) as well as chemicals (22.2% in 2020). From 2010 to 2020, EU27 imports from Pakistan have almost doubled from €3 072 to €5 537 million - growth that was particularly fast since the award of GSP+ (€5 515 million in 2014). The EU and Pakistan have set up a Sub-Group on Trade to promote the development of two-way trade. The Sub-Group on Trade set up under the auspices of the EU-Pakistan Joint Commission is the forum for discussions on trade policy developments more broadly and also aims to tackle individual market access issues which hamper trade between the two parties. Textiles and clothing account for over 80% of Pakistan’s exports to the EU. While the textiles and clothing industry are the backbone of Pakistani exports, relying so heavily on one product category carries risks for Pakistan. Trade diversification would play an essential role in this respect. The granting of GSP+ preferences in 2014 should have stimulated Pakistan’s efforts towards diversification.
Source: Business Recorder
HQTS Quality Control interviews Brett Matthews, Editor at Apparel Insider, about textile sustainability. recently interviewed Brett Matthews, Editor at Apparel Insider, about textile sustainability. In the interview Brett tackles the environmental impact of the textiles industry and discusses some possible solutions. HQTS: What are textile sustainability challenges that companies deal with today? Brett Matthews (BM): This falls into three main parts; the first is legislation and regulation; as we are seeing an increase in law around greenwashing, and within the UK, EU, and the USA, more brands are making sustainability claims. These claims have been around for years, but authorities are now looking for proof of sustainability within these companies. The second one is consumer and NGO practices. NGO is huge within the textile and apparel space with companies like Greenpeace and Clean Clothes Campaign – they put a lot of pressure on companies to do the right thing. Therefore, brands need to look out for reputational challenges. Thirdly are the internal challenges within a business and a brand. Most brands have focused on considerable sustainability challenges. They have a place on the board and at the top of organizations – they are pushing the board directors and the bosses to ensure they are doing the right thing and using correct sustainability practices. HQTS: How do businesses ensure that they are sourcing sustainably? BM: Sorting sustainable products is a hard one because most fashion retailers are sourcing their materials from other countries, and therefore, your suppliers are far away from you, which can make it hard to ensure they are sustainable. It becomes a case of looking to work with suppliers with a good market reputation. They have been around a few years if other companies are using them and word-of-mouth. Standards and accreditations are essential; suppliers should have accreditations and handle the inventories to ensure you are not creating waste or losing money. Brands are getting better at logistics, but the most important thing is managing lists, keeping debris to the minimum, and looking at recycled options. HQTS: What can manufacturers do to reduce their environmental effects? BM: Most studies agree that 90% of carbon emissions occur in manufacturing supply chains, so more companies are moving to renewable energy within their stores by using solar panels on the roofs, etc. But the real impact comes within supply chains, so we need to focus on manufacturers, and they can do this by shifting to renewable energy options. Some do this with support from suppliers and customers and introduce water-saving technologies and energy-saving technologies. HQTS: How do textile businesses handle and manage the quality of their products, adapt them to the requirements in each market and adhere to sustainability? BM: Firstly, it’s a process of continuous improvement, as it’s a fluid marketplace. The fashion and textiles and supply chains are currently in flux due to COVID-19, which could continue for a while. But continuous improvement is essential as parameters are changing all the time. But I would say we need to continue to be abreast of any new regulations within individual markets. Also, recent market trends are essential – always follow the latest trends coming out and stay ahead of the game; new customer requirements are crucial, too, as younger consumers are demanding sustainable products. Furthermore, it would help if you worked out your definition of sustainability as it’s quite a fluid word and has many meanings so, keep abreast of the conversations that are going on within the industry as things are changing all the time. Lastly, inspections and third-party companies are massively important, especially those with good reputations. You can’t do all this on your own; you need a third party to inspect and ensure everything is working as it should be. But companies need to ensure they are working with the right third-party company and that the trust is fully there. About HQTS HQTS has been setting the standard in reliable textile and apparel quality control services throughout Asia since 1987. With nearly 700 professional staff in Asia, HQTS textile and apparel inspections are conducted by industry educated and experienced experts that can evaluate your products and help identify varying levels of defects. HQTS testing engineers also provide one-stop textile testing services in accordance with ASTM, AATCC, ISO, EN, JIS, GB plus others. Contact HQTS today for more information.
Source: Innovation in Textiles
The Microfibre Consortium (TMC) has unveiled the next phase of the apparel industry’s campaign to reduce fibre fragmentation from clothing textiles. The Microfibre 2030 Commitment will replace the existing membership model for TMC and commits companies to a sustained programme of collaborative and proactive crossindustry work, aligned to the new Microfibre Roadmap, which has been backed by environmental non-profit agency The Nature Conservancy. The move is designed to put greater focus on the issue of fibre fragmentation and encourage all areas of the apparel industry to work together in addressing the topic. TMC launched the Microfibre Roadmap, aligning the sector’s work to reduce fibre fragmentation, with clear goals, workstreams and timelines at a dedicated launch event yesterday (21 September). The Microfibre 2030 Commitment now provides the working framework to deliver that roadmap and is the basis for TMC participation. It is designed to leverage greater impact, scale, accountability and visibility in the work towards reducing fibre fragmentation. All signatories are required to support the roadmap by taking meaningful, science-based, coordinated action on fibre fragmentation from natural and synthetic textiles. In launching the Microfibre 2030 Commitment, TMC revealed that 69 organisations are already on board as signatories. Among them are industry heavyweights H&M, Adidas, Inditex, Primark, Next, Kering, and Patagonia. In addition to an annual financial/in-kind contribution to the work of TMC, signatories are now required to carry out an agreed level of materials testing annually for the first three years, thereby contributing data to the Microfibre Data Portal, from which practical industry tools and resources will be developed in line with Microfibre Roadmap targets. Businesses will also contribute to Microfibre Roadmap targets by implementing mitigation actions in their own supply chains, as well as by acting as industry ambassadors to embed best practice across the textiles sector. “Today marks the point where we shift gears. Ten years ago, the textile sector started to recognise microfibre pollution as a topic of concern, and we acknowledge the phenomenal progress that has been made since then, and the stakeholders that have unflinchingly given their support to our work in recent years,” says Sophie Mather, executive director of The Microfibre Consortium. “Now, with the launch of the Microfibre 2030 Commitment and Roadmap, we enter a new stage of global alignment. We call on the wider industry to join our transparent and collaborative platform, which brings together the expertise, data and focus needed now to achieve impact at the necessary scale and pace.” Anna Biverstål, sustainability business expert materials and processes at H&M Group, adds: “Microfibre pollution and its negative impact on the environment is a challenge which needs to be tackled with an industry-wide holistic approach. That is why H&M Group is proud to collaborate with pioneering industry peers and research colleagues at the launch of the Microfibre 2030 Commitment, where the goal is to gather enough data and knowledge to set out joint minimum requirements and a detailed strategy to eliminate microfibre pollution.” All existing members of The Microfibre Consortium will now become signatories of the Microfibre 2030 Commitment and it will be used as the basis for recruiting new supporters. In addition, three new organisations, The Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP); REI Co-op, and Isko, have signed up to the commitment. “WRAP is delighted to be a signatory to the Microfibre 2030 Commitment and to be part of the ground-breaking, collaborative action tackling this important issue. Reducing microfibre release is crucial if we want to create a circular textile economy, where all forms of waste are designed out of the system, where environmental degradation is halted and climate change addressed.” Earlier this summer, TMC announced the public release of a globally aligned and standard test method to determine the level of microfibre shedding from fabric during domestic laundering.
Source: Just Style
