Imported chocolates, medicines, textiles and plant products will now see 'swift' passage to India, with the country joining the league of select nations to launch 24x7 Single Window Interface for Facilitating Trade at customs ports. Importers and exporters will now have to file just one form at customs ports for clearance from all agencies including the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India, Drug Controller General of India, Plant Quarantine and Wildlife Crime Control Bureau. Imports will be subject only to risk-based checks by all these agencies instead of compulsory 100% testing. This will bring down paper work at customs to one form from nine earlier and clearance time of cargo to two-three days, significantly reducing transaction costs for traders. Finance minister Arun Jaitley had announced single-window customs clearance in his budget speech. India is ranked 133 in the World Bank's ease of doing business ranking on the "trading across borders" parameter because of time-taking paper work and high costs. Border compliance for imports takes 311 hours compared to nine hours in high-income OECD countries. Documentary compliance takes 67 hours and four hours, respectively. Border and documentary compliance for imports together cost $695 in India compared to $148 in OECD countries, the ranking shows. A similar situation prevails in the case of exports. The new system is expected to reduce both time and costs.
SOURCE: The Economic Times
The Punjab Government has finally announced reduction in VAT rate on all kinds of yarn except polyester filament, from 6.5pc to 3.63pc. In this regard, the excise and taxation department issued a notification today. Additional chief secretary (taxation) DP Reddy, who issued the notification on Thursday evening, said new rates would be applicable from Friday. This will prove very helpful for the hosiery trade and with this, the liablity of the refund will also decrease. Rate of tax on polyester yarn, polyester chips, staple fibre and its waste acrylic fibre will be 6.05 per cent. President, Punjab Spinners Association (PSA) MM Vyas said that they were worried as the department did not issue the notification. It should ideally have done so at least a week back, before April 1. But finally, they published it before the new financial year started. According to him, reduction in the rate of VAT would come as a relief for ailing spinning mills. But it could have been a big boost had it been applicable retrospectively. Vivek Sharma, General secretary, district taxation bar association (DTBA) said that the move would raise construction cost in the state.
SOURCE: Yarns&Fibers
For the power loom clusters in Coimbatore and Tirupur districts, last two years had been difficult times with fluctuations in demand, problems in implementation of revised wages for job-working and increase in power costs. But, the units also need to focus on better technology and should diversify to varieties of fabrics to get better prices, say industry sources. With declining farming activity and additional benefits available in Sultanpet and Annur blocks (as they are declared as backward areas), more number of power looms are coming up across the two districts. While Coimbatore and Tirupur districts had 1.5 lakh power looms four years ago, it was two lakh looms now. The basic product manufactured here is grey gada fabric. And most of these are basic power looms, the sources add.
According to chairman of Southern India Mills’ Association, M. Senthil Kumar, large-scale units are able to market the fabric easily and in Tamil Nadu the number of such units is less. Almost 95 per cent of fabric production in the country comes from the unorganised sector. And, 75 per cent of fabric is from the basic power looms. The sources say small-scale power loom units have not adopted technology much and do not have trained manpower. This affects production and they need to look at upgrading technology. Most of the units add more number of basic power looms instead of upgrading the existing ones. Hence, there is an increase in production and hence, the prices also do not go up, they say. P.Kumaraswamy, secretary of the Coimbatore District Job Working Powerloom Unit Owners’ Association, says that about 10 per cent of the units in Coimbatore and Tirupur districts have gone in for semi-automation. The job-working units spend one fourth of the wages towards power cost. Hence, the government, both the Central and State, should give 50 per cent subsidy for the units to go in for solar power and should establish a marketing facility so that the weavers can sell directly to the buyers, he says.
Textile Commissioner Kavita Gupta told The Hindu over phone that the Union Ministry of Textiles disbursed Rs. 102 crore in 2015-16 to power loom units under the in-situ scheme. Most of the beneficiaries are in the south, in Coimbatore region, she says. The Ministry is promoting the scheme through door-to-door awareness campaigns. She says that power looms have different schemes to upgrade. Under the A-TUFS, the units get capital subsidy to go in for new shuttleless looms. Under the in-situ upgradation of power loom scheme, the units get Rs. 15,000 as subsidy for semi-automation. If the semi-automatic looms should be upgraded into rapier looms, the subsidy is Rs. 25,000. In the case of upgrading a basic power loom into a rapier loom, the subsidy is Rs. 40,000. The total cost will work up to Rs. 80,000 and 50 per cent will be available as subsidy, she says.
SOURCE: The Hindu
Gujarat Electricity Regulatory Commission (GERC) passed on the benefit of surplus revenues of the four discoms in the State to the consumers by reducing energy charges by 10 paise per unit for all residential consumers. The commission, on the petition filed by four discoms for truing up of their financials for 2014-15, and determination of tarrif for fiscal 2016-17, under the multi-year tariff regulations, rationalised tariff for various category of consumers. For the LTMD and HT category consumers, the commission cut the tariff by 10 paise per unit and 14 paise per unit respectively after rationalisation. The new tariff will be applicable from April 1. With the modification, rationalisation in the tariff structure and revision in the tariff rates, there will be gross benefit of Rs. 414.03 crore to the consumers of the state-owned discoms. Against the consolidated revenue gap of Rs. 234.77 crore claimed by the discoms, the Commission approved the consolidated revenue surplus of Rs. 115.55 crore. Meanwhile, for the consumers of private sector power producer Torrent Power Ltd, the Commission capped the FPPPA charges at Rs. 1.35 per unit as against the present FPPPA of Rs. 1.98 per unit. The power consumers of all the categories in Ahmedabad, Surat and Gandhinagar cities will get reduction of 18 paise per unit.
SOURCE: The Hindu Business Line
Buoyed by an all-time record cargo handling of 76.38 million tonnes in 2015-16, Paradip Port Trust (PPT) plans to raise capacity from 118.50 mpta to 325 mpta by 2025 to become the country’s biggest port. “The port achieved an all-time cargo record throughput of 76.38 million tonnes during 2015-16 as against the previous year traffic of 71.01 MT, exhibiting a growth of 7.57 per cent,” PPT Chairman Rinkesh Roy told reporters here. With this, PPT retains second position in cargo throughout among all major ports consecutively for past three years, he said, adding major cargo handled were thermal coals, crude oils, coking coal, lime stones, rock phsophates, iron ore pellets and oil products. During the year, the berth day output has achieved 21,139 million tonnes as against 17,736 MT which translates to 19.18 per cent. By improving port efficiency parameters, PPT has handled 1561 ships during 2015-16 as against 1476 during previous year with a reduced berth occupancy of 66 per cent from 77 per cent, Roy said. The port has also created a record by handling 7.61 MT in a single month in March, 2016 surpassing its previous best of 7.09 MT handled in February 2016, he said. An all-time record of 23.76 million tonnes of thermal coal was handled mechanically during 2015-16 surpassing the previous record of 21.33 MT during previous year. Similarly, a record 2.33 million tonnes of iron ore pellet was loaded during the last fiscal surpassing the previous record of 1.60 MT during 2013-14, Mr. Roy said.
Referring to financial parameters, the PPT Chairman said that the port has earned Rs 1173.03 crore during 2015-16 as against Rs 1160.46 crore in 2014-15. The net surplus after income tax stands at Rs 309.37 crore as against Rs 275.57 during the previous year, he said. On future plans, Roy said the port has taken up various projects to increase the capacity from 118.50 mpta to 325 mpta by the year ending 2025 and it would become the highest capacity port in the country. In addition, a multi-purpose berth is being built to handle clean cargo including containers on BOT basis with an estimated cost of Rs 430.76 crore which would be operational by March, 2019, the Chairman said. The port is also constructing a deep draft iron ore berth on BOT basis at an estimated cost of Rs 740.19 crore which would be operational by March, 2019, he said adding a deep draft coal berth is being built on BOT basis with an estimated cost of Rs 470.01 crore. Further, there is a proposal on capacity augmentation under Sagarmala Project of the central government to develop an outer harbour at an estimated cost of Rs 4179 crore to handle Cape size vessels up to two lakh DWT with a draft of 22 metres, Roy said.
SOURCE: The Hindu
The commerce ministry intends to hire a consultancy firm to conduct an in-depth study of the scope and nature of the functions and operational tasks undertaken by the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT). The idea is a relook at the prudence and relevance of its activities, and ascertain the degree of optimality with which they achieve the intended policy objectives and regulatory concerns. If pursued diligently, this should eventually lead to restructuring the DGFT in a meaningful way, with less government and more governance. The ministry has called for proposals from consultants for conducting an extensive study of the relevant practices in major trading nations/hubs of the world. Also, the policy objectives and regulatory concerns being emphasised, the policies adopted and mechanisms/institutions being leveraged for implementation of the policies and regulation of foreign trade in those countries.
Taking cue from those studies, the consultants have to throw up options for the optimal manner in which the policy objectives and regulatory concerns could be addressed in India, in the light of modern thinking and global best practices, plus possible ways forward in reforming the present arrangements. The best part of the Request for Proposal (RFP) is the Terms of Reference that require the consultants to examine the adequacy of the Foreign Trade Policy (FTP) in its current form. Such as meeting the policy and regulatory objectives, whether FTP 2015-20 has been successful in improving the ease of doing business and whether DGFT as a body is performing its role of facilitating and implementing the FTP to the satisfaction of trade and industry. Plus, alternative mechanisms of transferring incentives directly, whether an organisation like DGFT that facilitates formulation of the FTP is also required for implementing the export promotion schemes therein or whether the implementation part be delegated entirely to customs. The RFP says the consulting entity should have proven expertise in research-based analytical studies in the area of economic and commercial policy, and have the necessary reach and access to the relevant resources that are required for such a global study.
To be eligible, it should have had a minimum turnover of Rs 50 crore in each of the past three years, experience of at least 10 years in consultancy assignments in India, prior experience of policy advisory, institutional strengthening and capacity building, related to government institutions, experience in serving the government in at least five similar projects in the past three years, have a minimum of five offices outside India in different countries and have minimum employee strength (consulting staff only, and excluding audit/tax or other non-consulting divisions) of 100. I have long felt the DGFT has a definite role in regulating imports and exports, and in formulating export promotion schemes. While also advocating administration of the schemes through customs and excise, rather than regional offices of DGFT. Ramu Deora, former chief of the Federation of Indian Export Organisations, has long pressed for direct transfer of incentives to exporters. Hopefully, the consultants hired will bring fresh insights and not merely write a report that the administrators want.
SOURCE: The Business Standard
Australia has offered to be flexible in the area of services and customs procedures to get an early agreement on the proposed bilateral free trade pact with India. “Canberra has agreed to accommodate New Delhi’s concerns on the large number of horizontal limitations or curbs imposed across sectors in the services offers made by it and has suggested moving to a negative list that would specify sectors it wants to protect. The rest would not face restrictions,” a government official told BusinessLine.
Wider access for pros
The services sector is of utmost importance to India as it wants to gain wider access for its professionals in Australia as part of the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) being negotiated. “The average duties on goods are already low in Australia. Although there are certain sectors such as textiles and automobile parts where we would gain with a duty cut, the gains would be much higher in services where India also has a competitive edge,” the official said. The proposed CECA is expected to result in lower import duties on industrial and farm goods, greater access to the services market and easier investment norms in both countries.
TFA as baseline
The two countries have also agreed to make the Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) of the World Trade Organisation (of which both countries are members) as the baseline for customs procedures, the official said. A team of senior officials, headed by Australia’s special envoy for trade Andrew Robb, will be in New Delhi this week to push the CECA to an early finish. “In the series of meetings that we had in the last couple of months with our Australian counterparts, we have made progress. But, it remains to be seen whether it is enough to clinch a deal,” the official said.
Australia, on its part, wants India not only to take on binding commitments in areas such as insurance and retail but also give an assurance that future openings in sectors such as legal and education would get incorporated in the pact. The country, however, has softened its earlier demand of large-scale market openings in dairy products because of India’s sensitivity towards the sector, the official added. India-Australia bilateral trade was about $14 billion in 2014-15, with Australian exports at $11 billion and Indian exports just at $3.2 billion. Australia’s engagement with China is much larger with annual bilateral trade at $160 billion.
SOURCE: The Hindu Business Line
Expecting a ‘substantial headway’ in negotiations for the proposed free trade agreement (FTA) with Australia, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has expressed hope for an early conclusion of the talks. “I do hope substantial headway is made and the grey areas are sorted out,” Arun Jaitley said. During his visit, he had met Australian Minister for Trade and Investment Andrew Robb, who is coming to India next week. Quoting Jaitley, AFR Weekend, said that the minister wants to see the negotiations to conclude in an expeditious manner but it was not up to him as the subject was led by Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. The talks for a comprehensive economic cooperation agreement (CECA), also known as FTA, between India and Australia were started in 2011 to provide fillip to both trade and investments between the two countries. Both the sides were expecting to conclude the negotiations as early as possible but there were differences on areas like duty cut in dairy and wines. Several rounds of negotiations have been completed for liberalising trade and services regime besides removing non-tariff barriers and encouraging investments. Australia is pushing for tariff reduction in dairy, fresh fruit, pharma, meats and wines. On the other hand, India wants zero duty on auto parts, textiles, and fresh fruits, including mangoes and greater access in services sector. The India-Australia bilateral trade stood at USD 13 billion in 2014-15 as against USD 12.12 billion in the previous fiscal.
SOURCE: The Financial Express
PM Narendra Modi Saudi Arabia visit: India and Saudi Arabia today vowed to substantially boost investments and their trade ties as Prime Minister Narendra Modi invited cash-rich Saudi firms to invest in infrastructure and form joint ventures for oil exploration. A joint statement issued after the talks between Modi and Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz said that both countries agreed to forge a deeper partnership in energy sector focusing on investment and joint venture in petrochemical complex. “The two leaders emphasised the importance of expanding trade and investment ties to drive the strategic engagement forward. They directed their Finance and Trade Ministers to work together to find ways and means to substantially increase the flow of bilateral investments and growth of trade ties,” the statement said. There has been a steady increase in bilateral trade, which stood at USD 39 billion in 2014-15. “The two leaders agreed upon the need to further strengthen these ties, particularly through diversifying non-oil trade,” it added.
During the Prime Minister’s two-day visit India showcased its initiatives at improving the ease of doing business and efforts to simplify and rationalise existing rules and relax the foreign direct investment norms in key areas, including railways, defence and insurance. Saudi Arabia is India’s largest supplier of crude oil. The two countries also expressed satisfaction at the growing bilateral trade in the energy sector. “The two leaders agreed to transform the buyer-seller relationship in the energy-sector to one of deeper partnership focusing on investment and joint ventures in petrochemical complexes, and cooperation in joint exploration in India, Saudi Arabia and in third countries,” the statement said. Modi invited Saudi firms such as Aramco and SABIC to invest in the India’s infrastructure sector. “Inviting Saudi Arabia to be a partner in India’s growth story, Modi encouraged Saudi Aramco, SABIC and other Saudi companies to invest in the infrastructure sector in India and to participate in projects creating mega industrial manufacturing corridors, smart cities as well as the Digital India and Start up India programmes,” the statement said. The Saudi side expressed its interest in investing in infrastructure development in India, especially in priority areas such as railways, roads, ports, and shipping. The Saudi side also welcomed interest of India in investing in the Kingdom, especially taking advantage of the competitive investment opportunities offered by the Saudi economic and industrial cities. India is 79 per cent dependent on imports to meet its oil needs and Saudi Arabia is its largest supplier. The two sides also agreed to focus on areas of training and human resources development and cooperation in research and development in the energy sector. “In this regard, the two leaders expressed the need for regular meetings under the umbrella of India-Saudi Arabia Ministerial Energy Dialogue,” it added.
Both leaders appreciated the well-functioning bilateral institutional mechanisms in the field of trade & investment, energy, defence and manpower. “They noted that new and potential areas of cooperation identified during the meetings held under these mechanisms had a constructive effect on the expanding bilateral ties and further called for effective implementation of the decisions made under the framework of these mechanisms,” it said. Both leaders also welcomed the signing of the framework agreement between the General Investment Authority in Saudi Arabia and Invest India aimed at facilitating investments by the private sectors in the two countries.
SOURCE: The Financial Express
All Pakistan Textile Mills Association Chairman Tariq Saud has urged the government to immediately impose a 15 per cent Regulatory Duty on the import of man-made fibres (MMF), particularly polyester viscose yarn, polyester cotton yarn and pure polyester yarn. In a statement, he said an emergency meeting of the member mills was held at the Punjab office of the Association to review the import statistics of the MMF for domestic consumption, which has increased by four times in last four years and likely to reach to 57,000 tonnes per annum by the end of 2015-16. He said the surge in the import of MMF yarns has become a matter of serious concern for the domestic industry and poses a serious threat to the survival of about two million spindles with over three million direct and indirect workforce associated with this industry. Saud claimed the textile industry had been requesting the government to impose 15 per cent Regulatory Duty on the import of all MMF yarns. "An unchecked import of yarns has hit the viability of the domestic spinning yarn industry, which is also threatening the survival of domestic PSF producers and the PTA industry by and large," he said. "Both the upstream and downstream industries as well as millions of direct and indirect jobs are under threat and needs immediate intervention by the government," he added.
SOURCE: The Global Textiles
Myanmar’s clothing industry is set to grow significantly in the coming years, it is predicted that that there could be up to 1.5 million jobs in the garment industry by 2020 compared with approximately 230,000 in mid-2015, and that garment exports could rise from US$1.5 million in 2014 to as much as US$12 billion in 2020, according to a report in the latest issue of Global Apparel Markets from the business information company Textiles Intelligence. The first Western brand to source from Myanmar was H&M in 2013 followed by Gap in 2014 and these companies appear to have paved the way for others to follow. Also many countries have granted free trade or preferential trade status to clothing made in Myanmar.
Furthermore, foreign direct investment (FDI) in the garment industry has been growing at an impressive pace in recent years and, following the removal of sanctions, clothing exports from Myanmar shot up by 26.5% in 2013 and by a further 27.4% in 2014. To plan for expansion, the Myanmar government has published a strategy for the textile and garment industry as part of a document entitled National Export Strategy 2015-2019. In particular, the industry has been advised to move from operating on a cutting, making and packaging (CMP) basis to operating on an fob (free on board) basis; increase volume; improve quality; produce a greater volume of knitted products; and develop its design expertise so that it can expand from operating on an fob basis to one embracing original design. In terms of geographical markets, the aim will be to build further on the country’s biggest export markets.The initiatives are being pursued to improve the industry’s international competitiveness and encourage sustainable production as natural fibre production in Myanmar is small and there is no production of man-made fibres. Almost all the fibres used by the textile industry need to be imported. Also, the industry lacks vocational training programmes. Consequently, the industry will need modern machinery, raw materials, skilled labour, social and environmental certification, energy sources which are reliable, a logistics infrastructure and a financing system which runs smoothly. The demand from Western retailers is unlikely to increase at a rapid pace as buyers are expected to proceed cautiously.
SOURCE: Yarns&Fibers
Trade officials are embarking on a roadshow to Europe this month for a series of cooperation meetings, including the possible signing of a free trade agreement (FTA) with the European Free Trade Association (EFTA). Trade Secretary Adrian S. Cristobal Jr. said last week they would be flying to Switzerland for a joint economic commission meeting with their counterparts. The meeting was aimed at building on the bilateral cooperation between the two countries that began in 2013. Trade Undersecretary Nora K. Terrado, meanwhile, would also be going to Europe this month for “trade promotion [and possibly] back-to-back with the Efta signing.” “We’re going to be in Switzerland, Netherlands and Czech Republic. We’re still thinking which other countries to visit, and how to string it,” Terrado said. Trade officials, however, were mum on whether the signing of an FTA with the EFTA, composed of four member states Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Iceland, would push through this month. Cristobal said the FTA was still being finalized following the fifth and last round of negotiations in February. Results of that meeting showed the Philippines and Efta are nearing the signing of the FTA.
Having an agreement with Efta is deemed strategic as these countries, while small, are rich and can be a significant source of trade, investment and technology. Improving market access to Europe will encourage investments in the services and non-services sector. Total commodity trade between the EFTA countries and the Philippines has been growing steadily over the last years, showing an increase of 40 percent from 2011 to 2015. Total trade in 2015 alone reached $863 million.
SOURCE: The Business Inquirer
The US trade agenda might be about to have a “supercollider” moment, and China, ironically, stands to benefit. The Superconducting Super Collider is the most famous particle accelerator never made. Some US$2 billion had already been spent when the US Congress cancelled the spectacular Texas-based project in 1993. Jobs were lost, and dreams shattered. Such ambitious undertakings take years to finalise, and along the way, the mood of a country can change. In the supercollider’s case, the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 sapped enthusiasm for the costly science and space race against the Soviet Union. This year we may see another major initiative torpedoed after years of work. The US-led Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) took eight years to negotiate, and when 12 countries signed the deal in February, this “new generation” trade pact was billed as the biggest ever. The China shock is mostly in the rear-view mirror, and trying to unwind now would be costly and wasteful But it still has to be ratified by the US Congress, and the mood of the country has changed, to put it lightly. On the left, popular presidential candidate Bernie Sanders calls the deal a “disaster” and even the centrist Democratic Party candidate for president, Hillary Clinton, has turned tail on her previous support for TPP.
Meanwhile there is even more trouble on the right. Donald Trump is riling up free-trade resentment among the white working-class Republican Party base. For Republican legislators, the political risk of casting a pro-TPP vote is high and rising. China is not a signatory to the TPP, but rather the driving force behind another major trade initiative – the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) – that could end up involving 16 countries and span Asia from Japan to India. The TPP includes specifications that seem to be aimed at containing China’s brand of authoritarian, state-led capitalism. There is, for example, language in the deal about a free and open internet, and tougher rules on government procurement and state subsidies to companies. Mostly, however, the TPP is focused on forging openings in areas where the developed nations have advantages, such as services and intellectual property, while the RCEP is focused on goods manufacturing. This is “consistent with their comparative advantages”, according to trade experts Peter Petri and Michael Plummer, who have deeply researched both initiatives, in some cases teaming up with Fan Zhai of China Investment Corporation.
Still, the researchers estimate that if the TPP were expanded to include five other countries, including China, it could bring China US$800 billion in additional income by 2025. Which is why Beijing is likely to eventually join if the TPP is passed. Petri, Plummer and Fan have argued for convergence. In this scenario, China joins TPP but also pushes through with RCEP, and eventually an even bigger, more global, trade pact is signed that bridges the two models. American diplomats and free-trade advocates say TPP’s defeat would be a tragedy. They acknowledge that mistakes were made in the past 20 years of increased globalisation: in particular, the shock of China’s opening was larger than expected, and little was done to help those displaced in China’s rapid transformation to the world’s biggest exporter. But the China shock is mostly in the rear-view mirror, and trying to unwind now would be costly and wasteful. Economists funded by the Peterson Institute for International Economics, a think tank based in Washington, published an analysis that shows the economic benefits of TPP would be dispersed among many income groups, not just given to the 1 per cent. So what would happen if the TPP was torpedoed? Of course, many around the world would celebrate its demise, as a victory for labour and localism and a defeat for global corporatism. But it would not “end free trade”. The likeliest scenario is that we default to the current trade dynamics – a model closer to the RCEP.
Most likely the next US president will not be Trump or Sanders, each of whom have promised to increase protectionism. The next US president – probably Clinton but maybe even Ted Cruz – would embrace the status quo of globalised free trade. But by then the TPP would be on the scrap heap of history, buried next to the supercollider. The ball would be in China’s court and Beijing might just be thinking, “Thank you, Mr Trump.”
SOURCE: The South China Morning Post
The University of Georgia is a partner in a new national public-private consortium to revolutionize the fiber and textiles industry through commercialization of highly functional, advanced fibers and textiles for the defense and commercial markets. The partnership, called Advanced Functional Fabrics of America, or AFFOA, was announced Friday by the Department of Defense. The AFFOA partnership builds on recent breakthroughs in fiber materials and manufacturing processes that will soon allow us to design and manufacture fabrics that see, hear, sense, communicate, store and convert energy, regulate temperature, monitor health and change color. The announcement of the consortium followed a highly competitive nationwide bid process for a national manufacturing institute that is part of the National Network for Manufacturing Innovation announced by the federal government in 2012 to advance manufacturing leadership and job creation in the U.S. “The University of Georgia is proud to play a role in transforming fiber and textile manufacturing in America through our involvement in the AFFOA initiative,” said UGA President Jere W. Morehead. “Participation in this outstanding public-private partnership is aligned perfectly with our heritage as a land-grant university and our strong commitment to advance economic development in the 21st century.”
Members of the consortium include Fortune 500 companies such as Corning, DuPont, Nike and Intel, as well as small and medium-sized companies spanning the electronics, materials, apparel, transportation, fashion, defense, medical and consumer good manufacturing sectors. It also includes leaders of the fabric industry, such as Inman Mills, and leading research universities MIT, Cornell University, Drexel University, the University of Michigan, the University of California, Davis and the University of Texas at Austin. The AFFOA mission is to transform traditional fibers, yarns and textiles manufacturing into a highly sophisticated functional system that will ensure America remains at the leading edge of fiber science. It brings together Fortune 500 companies, universities, fiber and textiles manufacturing facilities, state workforce development programs and federal agencies to co-invest in key technology areas that can encourage investment and production in the U.S. Markets for the revolutionary fabrics range from apparel, health care and consumer products to defense, transportation, software and architectural and structural textiles. “UGA’s contributions to AFFOA tap into longstanding expertise in textiles, polymers and fibers, a track record of collaboration with industry, as well as our success in launching new businesses based on discoveries,” said Vice President for Research David Lee, who has led UGA’s participation in the consortium to date.
UGA researchers who will play critical roles in AFFOA include Sergiy Minko, Georgia Power Professor of Polymers, Fibers and Textiles, College of Family and Consumer Sciences and professor, department of chemistry, Franklin College of Arts and Sciences; Suraj Sharma, assistant professor in the department of textiles, merchandising and interiors, College of Family and Consumer Sciences; and Jason Locklin, associate professor in the College of Engineering and department of chemistry, Franklin College of Arts and Sciences. Researchers from the Complex Carbohydrate Research Center who conduct research on biopolymers also will contribute to research and development of new technical textiles. Innovation Gateway, UGA’s commercialization and startup arm, will be instrumental in bringing new technologies to the market, including a portfolio of 10 existing textile, fiber and polymer technologies. “In addition to revolutionizing textile manufacturing, we hope to reverse the downward trend in textile manufacturing employment,” Lee said. “This initiative is projected to add 50,000 jobs over the next 10 years across a wide range of U.S. industries and sectors along the entire supply chain.” The effort is funded by a $75 million federal commitment and cost share matches from AFFOA partners totaling $317 million. UGA will receive at least $5 million over five years, with an additional investment of state matching funds.
SOURCE: The Online Athens
Anti-odour athletic clothes containing silver nanoparticles have gained a foothold among exercise buffs, but questions have arisen over how safe and effective they are. Now scientists have reported in American Chemical Society's (ACS) journal Environmental Science & Technology that silver nanoparticles and coatings do get washed off commercially available garments in the laundry but at negligible levels. They also found that even low concentrations of silver on clothing kept microbes at bay, ACS said in a press release. Thanks to their antimicrobial properties, silver nanoparticles are found in an increasing array of products such as food packaging, bandages and textiles. At the same time, scientists have been studying the possible effects silver nanoparticles might have on the environment and human health. Studies have shown that the particles can be toxic, but their safety is dependent on a number of factors such as size and dose. Few studies, however, have examined both their effectiveness in products and their potential for harm. Paul K. Westerhoff and colleagues wanted to see how the design of antimicrobial clothes affects how well they stand up to washing and their potential to leach silver into the environment. The researchers tested commercial athletic shirts in which the silver nanoparticles were incorporated in one of four different ways. Washing the shirts released a range of silver concentrations, depending on how the nanoparticles were attached. But overall, the resulting toxicity of the wastewater due to its silver content was negligible to zebrafish embryos -- a model animal used in toxicity studies. And after washing, the shirts still retained their antimicrobial effect even if their remaining metal concentration was low. The researchers also say that the remaining silver will leach out over time when the clothes are discarded in landfills. They recommend keeping the initial metal concentration in these products low to help reduce their environmental impact while still maintaining their ability to fight off microbes.
SOURCE: Fibre2fashion
