Marks & Spencer India to speed up expansion amid global headwinds
Australia's apparel imports see steady growth; $5.52 bn in Jan-Aug 22
BKMEA, BTMA wide apart on LC payment in taka
Bangladesh:Unsold yarn piles up for falling garment exports
Apparel brands collaborate with supply chains to drive circularity
COP27: New industry framework to measure sustainability of trade transactions
ASEAN textiles in spotlight at exhibition
The Government of India has made suitable amendments in the Foreign Trade Policy and Handbook of Procedures to allow for International Trade Settlement in Indian Rupees (INR) i.e., invoicing, payment, and settlement of exports / imports in Indian Rupees. Accordingly, the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) had earlier introduced Para 2.52(d) vide Notification No. 33/2015-20 dated 16.09.2022 to permit invoicing, payment and settlements exports and imports in INR in sync with RBI’s A.P. (DIR Series) Circular No.10 dated 11th July 2022.In continuation to the above notification, changes have been introduced under Para 2.53 of the Foreign Trade Policy, for grant of exports benefits / fulfilment of Export Obligation under the Foreign Trade Policy, for export realisations in Indian Rupees as per the RBI guidelines dated 11th July 2022.The updated provisions for Export Realisation in Indian rupees been notified for, imports for exports (Para 2.46 of FTP), export performance for recognition as Status Holders (Para 3.20 of FTP), Realisation of export proceeds under Advance Authorisation (AA) and Duty Free Import Authorisation (DFIA) schemes (Para 4.21 of FTP) and Realisation of Export Proceeds under Export Promotion Capital Goods (EPCG) Scheme (Para 5.11 of HBP).Accordingly, benefits / fulfilment of Export Obligation under the Foreign Trade Policy has been extended for realisations in Indian Rupees as per the RBI guidelines dated 11th July 2022. Given the rise in interest in internationalisation of Indian Rupee, the given Policy amendments have been undertaken to facilitate and to bring ease in international trade transactions in Indian Rupees.
Source: PIB
A group of trade union leaders from Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra met Textile Secretary Rachna Shah and Chairman and Managing Director of National Textile Corporation Pravakta Verma in New Delhi on Wednesday and demanded clarity on operation of NTC mills. T.S. Rajamani, a co-ordinator of Save NTC, said the delegation said the ministry should clarify its decision regarding operating the NTC mills in the country. The union leaders also sought payment of gratuity and bonus arrears to the workers at the earliest. He added that the officials had said that a decision on operating the NTC mills will be a policy decision of the government and the demands of the unions will be presented to the government. Efforts will be taken to pay the wage arrears to the workers by the end of this month and payment of bonus and gratuity arrears will also be decided by the ministry.
Source: The Hindu
In a bid to attract huge investment to the state, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Wednesday met the delegation of India Foundation and Institute of Political and International Studies, Iran, as per an official statement.He stated that Uttar Pradesh is working as the growth engine of India's economy in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision.Welcoming the delegation led by Iran's Ambassador Dr Iraj Elahi, CM Yogi described Uttar Pradesh as the soul of India."Uttar Pradesh is the largest state of India in terms of population with about 25 crore people residing here. Currently, Uttar Pradesh is the country's second-largest economy," he said."We are the top producer of food grains even though we are not the largest state land-wise. Uttar Pradesh contributes more than 20 per cent of the country's total food grain production", said UP CM.
The Chief Minister said that the state has the best water and agricultural resources. Uttar Pradesh is number one in the production of fruits, vegetables and milk along with all other food resources including wheat, and sugar."Meanwhile, under Prime Minister Modi's direction, much progress has been made in the infrastructure in Uttar Pradesh. Our connectivity is good. Today every part of the state is connected by rail, good highways and air connectivity", CM Yogi remarked.Maintaining that with planned efforts in the last five years, UP has emerged as the best destination for industrial investment in the country, the CM added, "Cement, vegetable oil, textiles, cotton yarn, sugar, jute, carpets, brassware, glassware, bangles, and leather goods are among of the state's key businesses."He went on to say that Uttar Pradesh is developing its own identity on the global stage through ODOP. Uttar Pradesh is emerging as an economic power."The traditional industries including handicrafts, carpet manufacturing, metal artefacts, perfumes and leather goods form a major part of exports from India. Connectivity in the state has also become very strong. Today 6 expressways are operational, besides, 7 new expressways are going to be ready soon," added CM Yogi.As per the CM, a number of PPP-based projects in the areas of power, metro rail, transportation, education, health, and urban renewal are in various stages of development and will result in more business prospects in the future.CM Yogi said that Uttar Pradesh had received 93 investment proposals worth more than ₹ 11,250 crore for the flagship Defence Corridor project. Under the UP Defense Corridor, the BrahMos missile project in Lucknow is being fast-tracked, which will develop the next-generation supersonic missile for the Indian forces."India's drone sector is projected to clock a turnover of ₹ 12,000-15,000 crore by 2026. The government has announced plans to establish a Centre of Excellence dedicated to drones at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kanpur, to foster research and facilitate setting up of drone units in the state," he said.Iran's ambassador to India, Dr Iraj Elahi, said during the meeting that Iranian and Indian customs and cultures are very similar. "India feels like our home," he said.He invited CM Yogi to visit Iran and said that if he did he would feel like being in India. The Iranian Ambassador praised the way Prime Minister Narendra Modi has led India in pursuing its independent and pragmatic foreign policy.He invited CM Yogi to visit Iran and claimed that if he did, he would feel like India. The Iranian Ambassador praised the way Prime Minister Narendra Modi has led India in pursuing its independent and pragmatic foreign policy.
Source: The Ndtv
The textile manufacturers are trying to meet the demands of the ever-changing fashion industry, where new designs, materials, etc require them to adopt ways that are more efficient in terms of energy, time, money, and production.At present, high fuel prices as well as the global energy crisis require more and more industries to conserve as much energy as possible. The rapidly growing textile industry is one of the major energy-consuming industries, yet it retains the record of lowest efficiency in terms of energy utilisation. The global textile industry grew from $530.97 billion (2021) to 577.83 billion (2022) at an impressive CAGR of 8.8.In terms of energy usage, the chemical processing industry uses about 38 per cent of the energy, weaving uses 23 per cent, spinning 34 per cent, and 5 per cent is for miscellaneous purposes. The textile industry, therefore, no longer has the option to use conventional technologies and processes for manufacturing. It needs to incorporate, agile, modern, and sophisticated processes to conserve energy in every way possible.
Demand-Driven Textile Industry
Being one of the most convoluted manufacturing industrial chains, the textile industry is a heterogeneous and fragmented sector that the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) dominate.
The different factors mainly drive the demand: home furnishing, clothing, and industrial use. It is difficult to characterise textile manufacturing due to the diversity in machinery, processes, substance, finishing steps, and the components that come into play.
For instance, to produce a finished fabric, there are different types of yarns or fibres, different fabric production methods, and finishing processes — mechanical finish, chemical finish, printing, preparation, dyeing, and coating — all are interlinked. Even a slight change in one of these factors results in a different end product.
Some other fabric properties include texture, appearance, weight, flexibility, lustre, affinity to dyestuff in a plant, and strength.
Energy Uses in Textile Industry
Due to process diversity and intensity, the textile industry uses a massive amount of energy. However, the industry’s energy consumption greatly depends upon the country it belongs to. For instance, the textile industry contributes less than two per cent of final energy usage in the United States of America, whereas, in China, the percentage goes up to four.
Different types of textile industries use different energy sources. For instance, fuel is the dominant energy source in wet processing, whereas, for yarn spinning electricity is major energy.
The increase in rapid energy consumption demands the incorporation of techniques and technologies that provide improvement opportunities. After all, saving energy is no longer a luxury, it has become a necessity.
Opportunities to Make Industry Energy-Efficient
There are two main ways to make the textile industry energy-efficient. One is by optimising the retrofit or process, and the other is opting for the replacement of old machinery with modern, sophisticated, and efficient technology.
Although, state-of-the-art technology might seem to be a more appealing and quicker way to conserve energy, the upfront capital cost makes it a challenge to go for the same. Therefore, before investing in new equipment, it is imperative to analyse all the advantages that it can offer in terms of wastage, water, material, and other component saving.
If all these factors justify the upfront capital cost, it is a wise move to upgrade the technology. However, in case, if the cost is not justified, then it is better to opt for process or retrofit optimisation.
Identifying the Areas that Require Energy-Efficient Process
Energy management is not limited to only the production factor of the industry, on the contrary, it has relevance in every department. For an industry to be truly energy-efficient, it needs to increase knowledge, enhance awareness, and let everyone be part of the optimisation process.
For starters, it is imperative to analyse the usage of lighting. It being an important factor in electricity consumption, it is vital to analyse whether the light source is used efficiently or not, and take saving measures—limit the lighting use, incorporate daylight saving policy, and much more. Most importantly, replace lights with the ones that are brighter and consume less energy.
Next, electric motors are an important factor that consume a massive amount of energy. Conventional machines used a single motor to generate mechanical energy that was later transferred to all parts of the machine. However, there was a lot of energy wastage in this process. Therefore, modern technologies now incorporate several small motors with a controlling board that couples with the machine and controls the movement of the motors.
Traditional electric heating processes are also a major source of energy wastage. Thanks to technological advancements, the industry now uses gas heating, steam, and indirect or direct fire heating instead of electric heating. Doing this helps conserve energy and reduce costs
Fuel Efficiency
Prevention of air pollution is critical especially when air indexes of cities are becoming unsafe to breathe. Fuel selection is an important factor that requires consideration including the high calorific value, gas characteristics, ease of combustion etc.
Changing the boiler technology is also a smart way to make the industry energy-efficient. It has been some time since the textile industry has not used water-tube boilers instead of smoke tubes, scotch-type tubular or Lancastrian ones.
Steam Efficiency
Although the textile industry does not require a massive amount of steam, there are different locations within the plant where the steam is required.
When transporting steam, there is considerable loss due to heat radiation from the transportation pipes. This then leads to considerable pressure drops. A pipe with a small diameter and high pressure is better for transporting steam over a long distance, instead of using piping with low pressure and a large diameter.
In addition to steam pipes, steam accumulators too require consideration. It is because steam accumulator stores the excess steam and is installed between the heat-consuming load and the boiled, the midway of the heat-transporting pipe. It transforms the steam into heated water, thus, helping conserve the additional steam and reusing it as heated water for other purposes.
Almost every aspect of the textile industry requires frequent heating and cooling of both liquids and gases that act as a medium of heat. Heat exchangers come into play to ensure that during heat exchange between different fluids there is no chemical reaction or contamination that might result due to direct contact.
Heat exchangers efficiently ensure indirect cooling and heating of these liquids and gases.
Opt for Green Energy Sources
Instead of using conventional energies, textile industries today are switching to other non-conventional sources of energy including solar energy, geothermal energy, wind engird, tidal energy, and biomass.
Solar energy is the modern way of things. Initially, people were using solar lights for equipment that require minimum energy. However, modern solar panels can provide, robust, sturdy, and greater energy. For instance, they are being used to propel tubewells in agriculture. Likewise, numerous textile manufacturers are powering their production units via solar energy.
The best part is that the technology used to control these sources of energy are straightforward and easy to maintain. Moreover, nothing is wasted, as there is neither effluent nor air pollution.
Auditing the Energy
With the ever-changing fashion trends and textile industry requirements, energy auditing becomes a must to save and conserve energy. Energy auditing is basically a survey to analyse and inspect the flow of everything that is being used in the industry.
This help in reducing the amount of energy input into the system without having any sort of adverse impact on the output. When conducting an audit, the focus should be on the visible inefficiencies of energy transfer in the system. For instance, you can look for lighting sparks that are because of the loose joints, or the things like metal-to-metal touch, misalignment, and poor lubrication, among others.
Also, with periodic maintenance, and taking in-time preventive measures, industries are effortlessly reducing power consumption to a great extent. A well-maintained machine would consume less fuel, electricity, or whatever source of energy it is using, while delivering better output.
The competitive environment of the textile industry requires some drastic improvement. It needs to look for ways to reduce production costs without affecting the quality of the output.
The constant increase in production prices is leading to an increase in manufacturing cost. Therefore, energy conservation has become imperative to stay afloat in the competitive industry. Every single penny matters, and the industry needs to work on every aspect that can save and provide it with a cheaper eco-friendly alternative.
May it be adapting to new technologies, upgrading the current systems, using energy alternatives, or even having an energy audit in place. The main objective in the end is to conserve and make the entire industry energy-efficient.
Source: Fibre2Fashion
India and Britain’s worker unions recently raised concerns that a UK-India free trade deal could open up the British market to goods produced by child labour and slavery. Earlier this month, British retailer Marks & Spencer announced its “responsible exit" from a sourcing arrangement from Myanmar following heightened risk estimates of human-rights violations in the country. These developments come in the backdrop of evolving sustainability standards across the world, with a growing focus on the accountability of large corporations and their global value chains.
Source: The Mint
The Federation of Indian Export Organisations Wednesday said it will work closely with West Bengal government for three-fold growth in the state's exports to USD 50 billion. The apex body of Indian export promotion organisations will also engage itself in preparing product-specific market metrics to help boost exports from the state, a top official said.
In the short term there are some challenges in exports from Bengal due to economic issues in the key neighbouring countries like Bangladesh and Nepal which are restricting the growth of exports from the state, FIEO director general & CEO Ajai Sahai told.FIEO has already signed an MoU with Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh for facilitating and enhancing their export markets."Exports from West Bengal were USD 13.9 billion in 2021-22. Exports from the state will have to grow at a CAGR of 17 per cent to achieve USD 50 billion by 2030. Though challenging, it can be achieved with proper strategy," he said.FIEO's product market metrics report, which will be a product-wise and market-wise analysis, will help the state to take the necessary measures to attain the high growth trajectory, he said.
"West Bengal's share in the country's exports is currently about 3 per cent. With its potential the state should endeavour to increase its exports to 5 per cent by 2030," he said.
Bangladesh and Nepal, which neighbour Bengal, traditionally account for around 27 per cent of Bengal's total exports. But their forex shortages and inflationary pressures restrict these countries to import, he said."In April-August 2022 of the current fiscal, total exports from the state were USD 5.83 billion. Of this USD 992 million was to Bangladesh and USD 540 million to Nepal," Sahai said.The body is organising export-oriented knowledge-based skill development training programmes and workshops in the country under Market Access Initiative Schemes for 2022-23.Identification of niche products in the tea and jute sectors, the two which traditionally have good export potential, can help existing exporters or new entrepreneurs. Others like leather, handicraft and marine products and chemicals can also help boost exports from West Bengal, the officials said.
Source: The Economictimes
The Indian arm of the British multinational retailer Marks & Spencer (M&S) on Wednesday said that it has strong growth plans to ramp up stores in India amid reports of outlet closure back home due to challenging times. Marks & Spencer in India is a 51:49 JV between UK's M&S and Reliance since 2008.
The company denied reports of foraying into the food business in India, terming them as speculative and said, it will focus on the home category, launched recently.
"We will turbocharge our growth in India. We want to make sure customers get value in our apparel and home products," M&S Reliance India managing director Ritesh Mishra said.
The company has plans to open one store a month, he said.Mishra was in the city to open the company's 95th store and third in Kolkata. All stores in India are company owned and it does not have any franchise stores.M&S UK has 427 stores in international operations including franchisees and JVs.M&S UK recently informed investors it is highly likely that conditions will become more challenging in FY'24 across all markets.
Source: The Economictimes
Australia’s apparel imports may continue to witness a steady growth in terms of value in the current year. The imports reached $5.520 billion in the first eight months in this year. The inbound shipments recovered in the last year to $7.386 billion after experiencing a dip in 2020 due to COVID-19. The imports had dropped to $6.363 billion in 2020 as COVID-19 pandemic engulfed the entire world, affecting the normal life and trade in most countries. The imports amounted to $6.602 billion in 2019, $6.551 billion in 2018 and $6.205 billion in 2017, according to Fibre2Fashion’s market insight tool TexPro.
Australia’s apparel imports stood at $825.346 million in August 2022 which was higher than the imports of $682.986 million in the previous month. The monthly imports were at $664.225 million in June, $618.654 million in May, $588.759 million in April and $703.012 million in March 2022. Australia imported apparel worth $1.871 billion during the second quarter and $2.140 billion during the first quarter of this year, as per TexPro.
Source: Fibre2Fashion
Two textile-sector trade bodies have locked horns in a row over a proposal for settling letter of credit (LC) payments in local currency amid dollar crunch following Bangladesh's forex-reserve fall.Bangladesh Textile Mills Association (BTMA) in a letter to the central bank Tuesday opposed the proposed switch sought by Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA).Earlier on Sunday, BKMEA in a letter to Bangladesh Bank Governor Abdur Rouf Talukder proposed that they be allowed for opening and settling LC payments in taka as 80 per cent of the knitters source raw materials locally."There is dollar shortage globally due to the economic recession and Bangladesh is no exception," it is mentioned in the letter, sent by Mohammad Hatem, executive president of BKMEA.Commercial banks are facing difficulties in meeting dollar demands for opening and payment settlements, causing sufferings to export-oriented industries, the association noted."So, to mitigate the existing dollar crisis, we believe, LC opening and its payment settlement in Bangladeshi taka in lieu of dollar at local stage would help in overcoming the foreign-currency shortage to some extent," the letter reads.Exporters are also incurring financial losses due to the procedures as the conversion gap between the US dollar and the local currency stood at Tk 7.0-8.0 per dollar, the association explains.The BKMEA leader also said they would get relief of the currency-exchange-rate gaps if their demand is met.The other association moves swiftly to gainsay the dollar-taka arithmetic in import payment. The BTMA leadership in a separate letter to the governor claimed that the proposal, if implemented, would not play any effective role in resolving the dollar crunch.Citing media report, Mohammad Ali Khokon, president of BTMA, in the letter argued that the switch would rather create complexities in export-import activities of other textile-related stakeholders."As knitwear exporters source yarns and fabrics through back-to-back LC in foreign currency, no capital flight happens," he says, adding BTMA mills at present have sufficient stock of yarns and fabrics.The textile mills' association also points out that though there is not sufficient availability of yarn and fabrics made of manmade fibre, a notable quantity of such yarn and fabrics is produced locally.The BTMA president requested discouraging import of raw materials that are available locally against back-to-back foreign LC "in the name of saving foreign currency and resolving the dollar crisis".As the EDF (export development fund) and UPAS loan payment is settled in dollar in general, textile millers must have sufficient dollar in reserve to repay loans, he says.
UPAS means Usance Payable at sight. Under this letter of credit, the exporter will get the payment at sight if the documents are credit-compliant.
"So, it would not ensure foreign-currency availability if goods are delivered against back-to-back LC payment in local currency," Mr Khokon claims.
The association, however, alleged that the greenback would be capitalized by a group of people that might worsen the dollar crisis further.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh has guillotined import lists as part of austerity measures to navigate the current global and local financial crises in the wake of pandemic and Russia's Ukraine war that is retaliated with US sanctions. The country's foreign-exchange reserves dipped to 34.42 billion after a latest ACU payment against imports.
Source: The Financial express
The unsold yarn at the spinning mills of Bangladesh is piling up abnormally because of a fall in work orders by 30 per cent for apparel items from international clothing retailers and brands. The amount of inventory of yarn has already crossed five lakh tonnes in the last two months, according to the Bangladesh Textile Mills Association (BTMA).
Razeeb Haider, managing director of Outpace Spinning Mills, said the volume of unsold yarn with his mills has increased to 1,600 tonnes as of last week."The stock began to go up two months ago as demand for garments fell." Before the latest slowdown kicked in, Haider's mills would have a stock of yarn of 500 tonnes to 600 tonnes, which the entrepreneur considers normal.The piling up of unsold yarn is widening owing to the fall in orders for apparel items from international buyers, said Md Masud Rana, managing director of Asia Composite Mills, which consumes 40,000 tonnes of cotton a year.Mahin Group is also feeling the pinch of slowing exports. "The stockpiling of yarn is taking place, not for the price factor but for the demand factor as buyers are delaying placing orders for the higher inflationary pressure in European countries," said Abdullah Al Mahmud Mahin, chairman and managing director of Mahin Group.The consumption of yarn by the export-oriented garment factories dropped to nearly five million kilogrammes a day from 12 million kgs earlier.Similarly, the production of yarn in the mills that cater to the domestic market has also gone down significantly amid a sharp decline in demand among consumers struggling for record prices.
Spinners in Bangladesh are facing a double whammy in the yarn business.
On the one hand, they are running their production units at 50 per cent capacity because of a severe gas and power crisis. On the other hand, the volume of unsold yarn has grown.The inventory would have grown further if millers could run their operations at full capacity with adequate gas pressure, industry insiders say.Because of the sales drop, the primary textile sector, which has seen an investment of about $20 billion so far, has come under major threat.In some cases, the sales of yarn have dropped by more than 50 per cent over the last two months for the economic crisis in major export destinations in Europe.
Currently, local spinners can supply 90 per cent of raw materials to the knitwear sector and 40 per cent to the woven sector, Bangladesh's two biggest export-earning segments.In recent years, the demand for locally spun yarn and fabrics has grown among manufacturers as domestic production has allowed them to cut long lead time.At least 30 additional days are required for garment exporters if they ship goods made from imported fabrics from China.Despite the country sitting on a huge volume of yarn, some manufacturers are importing the textile raw material from other countries like India, hurting the local industry, a number of millers say.This led them to demand the government take steps to stop the import of yarn with a view to protecting the domestic industries and the foreign currency reserves.Mohammad Ali Khokon, president of the BTMA, said the primary textile sector is facing a multipronged challenge for the Russia-Ukraine war, higher inflation in Europe and the gas crisis in Bangladesh.He demanded a 90-day additional time for the payment of loans under the central bank's Export Development Fund so that millers can weather the impacts of the unsold yarn.
Source: The Daily star
Major apparel brands and organisations are accelerating product innovation and supporting initiatives to promote recycling and circularity in response to an ambitious new EU strategy. The EU Strategy for Sustainable and Circular Textiles, which was published by the European Commission in March 2022, sets out actions to ensure that textile and apparel products placed on the EU market from 2030 are durable and recyclable, free from hazardous substances, and made as much as possible from recycled fibres as it seeks to drive circularity.
The strategy has a provision for addressing problems of mounting waste resulting from soaring demand for fast fashion. It calls on apparel brands to reduce the number of collections they launch each year, and it urges the clothing industry to minimise the carbon footprint of fast fashion and its impact on the environment.
The “Apparel brands intensify collaboration with supply chains, prompted by the EU Strategy for Sustainable and Circular Textiles” report suggests that in response a number of brands are backing work in Scandinavia on the development of new cellulosic fibres made from textile waste. Renewcell, a textile recycling company based in Stockholm, Sweden, has constructed a facility for producing Circulose – a dissolving pulp which is made from cotton-rich textile waste and can be turned into new viscose fibres and filaments Infinited Fiber Company, a biotechnology company based in Espoo, Finland, is converting a disused mill into a facility for producing Infinna – a premium textile fibre which is made using cellulose-based raw materials Elsewhere, Napapijri – an outdoor apparel supplier based in Aosta, Italy, which is owned by VF Corporation – has gone the extra mile in working to secure Cradle to Cradle Gold certification for its circular range of outdoor jackets, which are made using 100% mono-materials.
Luxury fashion house Hugo Boss, meanwhile, has entered into a partnership agreement with the textile chemicals company HeiQ for the supply of AeoniQ – a cellulosic filament yarn which is recyclable and made using a closed-loop process.
In addition to apparel brands, the EU Strategy for Sustainable and Circular Textiles has prompted several organisations to launch new initiatives which are aimed at promoting recycling and circularity.
For example, Euratex (the European Apparel and Textile Confederation) has launched an initiative called ReHubs which calls for the establishment of 150-250 dedicated new recycling centres in Europe in the next few years. The aim of the initiative is to achieve the fibre-to-fibre recycling of 2.5 million tons a year of Europe’s textile waste by 2030.Elsewhere, the CISUTAC (Circular and Sustainable Textiles and Clothing) project aims to remove bottlenecks in the supply chain where they pose a barrier to achieving circularity.The project will develop new, sustainable and integrated large-scale European value chains in order to minimise the total impact of the textile and clothing industry on the environment.
Source: The Just-style.com
The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) has published a pilot version of the first-ever industry framework to assess the sustainability performance of trade transactions.The “Wave 1” framework is the product of a year-long consultation with banks, corporates and technology providers — in partnership with Boston Consulting Group — based on the roadmap announced by ICC at the Glasgow climate summit.
The new ICC framework sets out an agreed industry definition of sustainable trade – taking into account both environmental and socio-economic factors. It also embeds an approach that covers the entire lifecycle of an international trade transaction across five different dimensions – from the buyer and supplier to the nature and purpose of the goods or services sold.
The Wave 1 framework relies on simplified scoring system to allow it to be readily tested by banks and corporates – recognizing continued industry challenges accessing the high-quality data necessary for more granular sustainability assessments. Binary “ticks” for each component of a transaction will be used to show whether it meets ICC-approved sustainability standards.
Raelene Martin, ICC Head of Sustainability, said: “We have been careful to ensure that this initial framework is immediately implementable – making use of recognized standards, data and technology that are readily available to banks and corporates. This will allow us to test the framework in a real-world setting and build a more comprehensive view on the sustainability of global the value chain over time.”
At the COP27 climate summit, ICC Secretary General John W.H. Denton AO announced that more than 20 banks and corporates have pledged to pilot the application of the Wave 1 framework for transactions in the textiles sector. These include: BNP Paribas, Commerzbank, Lloyds Bank, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, DNB, Santander Bank, Société Générale, Wells Fargo, Yes Bank. ICC will be announcing other members joining the pilots in due course.ICC will publish the findings from these pilots and set out how it will use these results to enhance the framework by mid-2023.
Source: The iccwbo
Asean-made fabrics that have inspired Jimmy Choo, Loro Piana and Cong Tri, and are admired by some K-pop stars like Rosé of Blackpink, will be shown at Asean Week 2022, hosted by the ASEAN-Korea Centre in Seoul starting Thursday. “The exhibition will showcase the delicate and sustainable fabric items made by Asean master artisans ... [that are good examples of] traditional weaving craftmanship that has been passed down through generations,” said the center in a statement on Wednesday. Held at Cociety in Seongsu-dong, eastern Seoul, through this Sunday, the exhibition features examples of Pua Kumbu, or patterned ceremonial cotton used in Malaysia, which is known to have inspired Jimmy Choo’s shoe collection; several types of the so-called Lotus fabric from Myanmar, known to have been used by Italian apparel brand Loro Piana; as well as examples of Lanh My A Silk, called the queen of Vietnamese silk. It is used by Vietnamese Designer Cong Tri, whose designs have been worn by K-pop star Rosé of Blackpink. Hosted annually by the ASEAN-Korea Centre in Seoul since 2019, the special week focuses on the cultures and tourism resources of the 10 Asean member states. The center is an international organization promoting economic and socio-cultural cooperation between Asean member states and Korea. The event was supported by the Foreign Ministry in Seoul and the National Tourism Organizations of Asean.
Source: The Koreajoongangdaily
