INTERNATIONAL
NATIONAL
As part of an action plan to strengthen the textile waste value chain and make India a global centre for circular textiles, the Centre may make it mandatory for a specific percentage of textile products purchased by the government to be made from recycled materials. According to officials, it intends to build textile recycling clusters and adopt Indian standards and certification for recycling. “We will look at government interventions based on short, medium and long-term targets and examine the scope of textile recycle products being made mandatory in public procurement,” said an official. The officials added that the textiles ministry intends to evaluate the current situation of textile waste and the related industry in order to develop laws that would turn India into a hub for sourcing circular and sustainable textiles and apparel on a worldwide scale. Pre- and post-consumer waste generation as well as waste source identification will be part of the assessment. The ministry will also hire a consultant to conduct an examination of the present methods used by the sector to comply with circularity international standards. According to the source cited above, a thorough roadmap for scaling up technology to promote recycling is being developed. According to the source, the government is also attempting to quantify environmental effects including carbon dioxide emissions, water footprints, and energy usage. The action is consistent with the new Circular Economy Action Plan for the European Union, 2020, which lists textiles as one of the major product value chains facing numerous sustainability problems.
Source: Apparel Resources
Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal is scheduled to visit the UK on July 10-11 to take stock of the negotiations for a free trade agreement (FTA) to promote economic ties between the two countries, an official statement said on Sunday. The Minister's visit will be focused on the ongoing FTA negotiations between India and the UK besides discussing progress on a trade pact with ministers from the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) member countries, the commerce ministry said. The visit comes at a crucial juncture, as both India and the UK are committed to expanding their economic ties and exploring avenues for enhanced bilateral trade. "With the FTA negotiations gaining momentum, the visit aims to further propel the discussions and pave the way for a comprehensive and mutually beneficial agreement that would drive economic growth and strengthen ties between the two nations," it said. During the visit, the minister will engage in high-level meetings with his UK counterparts, including the Secretary of State for International Trade, as well as representatives from various sectors and industries. "These meetings will provide an opportunity to discuss the key priorities and objectives of the FTA negotiations, with a focus on addressing trade barriers, promoting investments, and fostering greater cooperation in areas such as technology, innovation, and intellectual property rights," it said. He will also meet with ministers and officials from the EFTA member countries, (Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, and Liechtenstein), to assess the progress made in the ongoing negotiations of the Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement (TEPA). The TEPA aims to enhance trade and economic cooperation between India and the EFTA member countries, fostering an environment conducive to increased investments, reduced trade barriers, and greater market access. Negotiations for a trade agreement between India and the UK were launched on January 13, 2021. As many as ten rounds of talks have been completed till June this year and both sides are aiming to conclude the negotiations at the earliest. The negotiations between the two countries for the agreement cover as many as 26 policy areas/ chapters. Investment is being negotiated as a separate agreement (bilateral investment treaty) between India and the UK and it would be concluded simultaneously with the free trade agreement. The bilateral trade between the countries has increased to USD 20.36 billion in 2022-23, as compared to USD 17.5 billion in 2021-22. India's main exports to the UK are ready-made garments and textiles, gems and jewellery, engineering goods, petroleum and petrochemical products, transport equipment, spices, machinery and instruments, pharmaceuticals and marine products. The main imports include precious and semi-precious stones, ores and metal scraps, engineering goods, professional instruments other than electronics, chemicals and machinery. In the services sector, the UK is the largest market in Europe for Indian IT services. In the field of investment, the UK is one of the top investors in India. In 2022-23, India received USD 1.74 billion in foreign direct investment from Britain as against USD one billion in 2021-22. During April 2000 and March 2023, the investments stood at USD 33.9 billion. On April 26 here, India and EFTA discussed ways to resume negotiations for the agreement. Under such pacts, two trading partners significantly reduce or eliminate customs duties on the maximum number of goods traded between them, besides easing norms to promote trade in services and investments. EFTA countries are not part of the European Union (EU). EFTA is an inter-governmental organisation for the promotion and intensification of free trade. It was founded as an alternative for states that did not wish to join the European Community. India's exports to EFTA countries during April-February 2022-23 stood at USD 1.67 billion as against USD 1.74 billion in 2021-22. Imports aggregated at USD 15 billion during the 11-month period as compared to USD 25.5 billion in 2021-22. The trade gap is in favour of the EFTA group.
Source: The outlook India
Bangladesh is all set to settle trade with India in Rupee from Tuesday, a move to cut their reliance on the American currency, which was involved in nearly 90 per cent of global forex transactions in 2022, The Daily Star reported. Bangladesh Bank and the Indian High Commission are expected to announce the news regarding the Indian currency at an event at Le Meridien Hotel in Dhaka tomorrow. The central bank governor and the Indian high commissioner will also join, a Bangladesh Bank (BB) official said. The BB has already given permission to three banks - Sonali Bank, Eastern Bank and State Bank ofIndia (SBI) in Bangladesh - to open nostro accounts with their counterparts in the neighbouring country. The nostro account is an account that a bank holds with a foreign bank in the currency of the country where the funds are held. It is used to facilitate foreign exchange and international trade transactions involving foreign currencies. This new move will open the letters of credit in the rupee to source a portion of the products from the neighbouring country and thus cutting the use of the US dollar to some extent, according to The Daily Star. The government has toughened import rules due to the shortage of American greenback, driven by higher import bills, with a view to stopping further depletion of the foreign currency reserve, which has fallen by nearly 30 per cent from a year ago. The private commercial bank, Eastern Bank and the country office of SBI have already opened nostro accounts with Indian ICICI Bank and SBI, the BB official said, adding that state-run Sonali Bank will open the account in the quickest possible time. Both the BB and the Reserve Bank of India (the central bank of India) have given permission to the two Indian banks to start settling the bilateral trade in the Indian rupee (INR), he added. The new arrangement will allow Bangladesh to perform foreign trade with India to the tune of USD 2 billion, equivalent to its current annual export receipts from the country. Last month, BB Governor Abdur Rouf Talukder said that if the trades through the unofficial channel are added then the imports can go up to USD 27 billion, as per The Daily Star. As per plans, ICICI Bank and SBI will settle imports with Bangladesh in the rupee. And the amount will be deposited with the Bangladeshi banks' nostro accounts with the two. In the second phase, the Bangladeshi banks will settle the import payments on behalf of the local importers by using the rupee deposited with the counterparts. The dominance of the US Dollar is declining in the last few decades. At the ASEAN finance ministers and central banks meeting in Indonesia in March, policymakers also discussed the idea of cutting their reliance on the USD, the Japanese yen and the euro and "moving to settlements in local currencies" instead. The dollar accounted for more than 70 per cent of global reserves at the turn of the century. The share declined to 59 per cent in 2011 and 58 per cent last year, International Monetary Fund data showed, reported The Daily Star.
Source: Economic Times
The Drugs Technical Advisory Board (DTAB) has agreed in principle to notify the medical textiles testing laboratories of Coimbatore-based South India Textiles Research Association (SITRA) as an approved testing laboratory to conduct quality tests for medical textiles in the country. SITRA, a not-for-profit research organisation actively involved in carrying out research and development on conventional and technical textiles, has submitted a representation with the concerned authorities seeking Central government’s recognition to their lab as Central Medical Device Testing Laboratory (CMDTL) for testing of bio-protective coveralls, surgical and medical facemasks, surgical gowns, surgical drapes, etc. Following its latest meeting held in May, this year, the Board said, “DTAB deliberated the matter and agreed in principle for the notification of SITRA for testing of medical textiles under the Medical Devices Rules, 2017. However, prior to that, the laboratory should be inspected by CDSCO to assess the facilities available in the laboratory”. The CDSCO officials are expected to conduct the inspections in the Coimbatore testing facility soon. During Covid-19 pandemic SITRA was approved by the Ministry of Textile and accepted by MoHFW to Test and certify Personal Protective Equipments (PPE) and coveralls to be used by frontline healthcare workers. The Association is also empanelled by BIS under Group 2 category for testing medical textiles such as coveralls, facemasks, surgical gowns, surgical drapes etc. The lab is accredited by National Accreditation Body for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL) as per ISO/IEC 17025:2017 and is being used by the textile industry, observed the Board. It was also informed that currently there is no Central Medical Devices Testing Laboratory which has a facility for testing of medical textiles such as coveralls, facemasks, surgical gowns, surgical drapes etc. As per Rule 19 of Medical Devices Rules, 2017, the Central Government may, by notification, establish Central Medical Devices Testing Laboratory for the purpose of testing and evaluation of medical devices; or functioning as an appellate laboratory; or to carry out any other function as may be specifically assigned to it. The Central government may also designate any laboratory having facility for carrying out test and evaluation of medical devices as central medical devices testing laboratory for the purposes specified in sub-rule (1) Provided that no medical devices testing laboratory, shall be so designated unless it has been duly accredited by the NABL. SITRA has been designated as a Centre of Excellence (COE) for Medical Textiles by the Office of the Textile Commissioner, Ministry of Textiles (MoT), Government of India under Mini Mission I of Technology Mission on Technical Textiles (TMTT) in recognition of excellent research accomplishments in the field of Medical textile industries. It has set-up a state-of-the art facility for pilot scale manufacturing and quality evaluation of medical textile products and has a dedicated group of textile technologists as well as experts in allied fields like microbiology, biotechnology and polymer chemistry to carry out research, training and consultancy to the textile industry as well fast emerging medical textile domains. “The Centre has served as a backbone for many businesses in the Medical Textiles market by providing technical assistance to many domestic and international manufacturers right from concept to product. The Centre with its well-equipped competency for Medical textile testing, established dedicated laboratories to suit different functional requirements,” says the Association’s website.
Source: The pharmabiz.com
Home textiles major Welspun India will look at opportunities to leverage on the association of its brand Christy with the Wimbledon tennis championships for international market expansion of the British label, according to company MD & CEO Dipali Goenka. This year, apart from the conventional classic green and purple towel the company has also created a line with a range of blooms in seasonal pink and fuchsia for Wimbledon, keeping in line with the tournament's vision and colour conversation that transcends gender. Christy became the official towel manufacturer and supplier for Wimbledon in 1988 and Welspun's association with Wimbledon began in 2006 when it acquired Christy. "The partnership, and what we have with Wimbledon is something that we feel very proud of because the towels are made in India for the world and for Wimbledon," Goenka told PTI. While Wimbledon towels are "very seasonal", she said it is the retail sales of Christy that it garners not just in the UK but also in the Middle East "that actually really make all the difference to". "Christy is not only available in the UK as a brand, it is also growing at the rate of 25 per cent in the Middle East," Goenka said, adding it also has presence in China, Australia, New Zealand and Japan. In 2022, the company had sold approximately 1.1 lakh pieces of Wimbledon related merchandise and for 2023 it expects the volume to exceed 2 lakh pieces. Goenka further said, "As we go forward, we are going to take Christy, even to the United States of America, that's when we see this brand grow..." When asked if Welspun India plans to leverage on the association with Wimbledon for the international expansion of Christy, Goenka said, "Right now I wouldn't be able to talk about it but there are opportunities that we would be exploring going ahead. We will talk about it when the time comes but definitely, there are opportunities across the globe, which we definitely can explore." For this year, the Wimbledon merchandise comprises 'Championships Towel' in classic and fashion pink, face bundles -- both in classic green and purple combo and in the new pinks; and guest towels -- in classic green, classic purple, and the new pinks -- fuchsia and rose. Goenka said these products are environment friendly and are Oeko-Tex Made in Green Certified, which is a traceable product label for all kinds of textiles and leather products that have been manufactured in environment friendly facilities under safe and socially responsible working conditions. "Christy is a proud member of the Better Cotton Initiative, (it) promotes better and more sustainable cotton production as well and we don't use any harmful substances...," she asserted.
Source: Business-standard
At the G20 Culture Working Group meeting here, around 450 artisans from the nomadic Lambanis community of Hampi would try to set a Guinness record for making the highest number of embroidery patches, a senior official said.The artisans would try to create more than 1,300 patches that would be put up on display for the record on Monday, when the deliberations at the meeting would start, Lily Pandeya, Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Culture, said.She said setting the Guinness record would help empower the marginalised community. ''Once you get a world record, once you get a UNESCO tag, you start talking about it and looking at it and therefore, it might actually help these women to increase their potential of livelihood and encourage more people to participate in such cultural and creative enterprises, apart from the consensus that we will try to achieve in terms of the language of the culture ministerial declaration, which would be the focus for the next two days,'' she said. The third Culture Working Group meeting under India's G20 presidency begun in Hampi on Sunday and will go on till July 12. The delegates from the G20 member countries, guest countries and international organisations will be part of the deliberations. The third working group meeting in Hampi, Karnataka will have the spotlight on cultural and creative industries and the creative economy. ''The main essence of this theme is basically to capture the economic weight of the culture sector, because most of the culture sector is still in the informal sector. And therefore, the entire extent of the contribution of the creative sector in the GDP has not been effectively captured because we do not have standardised mechanisms or aligned definitions as to what comprises the culture sector. So we are trying to come to an aligned mechanism and consensus,'' Pandeya said. At the meeting, an exhibition would also be organised that would talk about the hand-woven textile traditions of India.''Now, we all know that we have very diverse and very rich textile traditions. You go to any part of the country and you have a very distinctive textile tradition of that part. We will be able to showcase a cross-section of textile or hand-woven textile traditions at this exhibition,'' Pandeya said. She said the government will give the delegates a snapshot of the local culture and cuisine and the beautiful landscape of Hampi.
Source: The Devdiscourse.com
INTERNATIONAL
Where does all of Taiwan's unsold and unused fashion, clothing, or apparel go? The question is relevant to the “E” and “S” of environmental, social, and governance (ESG), which Taiwan espouses in its 2050 Net-Zero Pathway. Taiwan’s stores from the high end to the night markets are awash with clothing and associated apparel, whether it be high fashion or simply something for everyday use. It is impossible to imagine that it is all sold. Seasons change, ranges change, tastes change, and even with discount outlets, there is simply no possibility that the bewildering array of clothing, shoes, and other pieces of apparel are just stored away in the hope that the items will return to be fashionable again. A simple walk through even outlet stores in Taipei provides evidence of the sheer mountains of clothing and apparel on sale. We are not spoiled for choice, rather we, as consumers, are drowning in it. However, if Taiwan and the Taiwanese consumer are as committed to ESG as we are led to believe, then we need answers to these questions and action to tackle the problem. Some commentators say that consumers live in a land of make-believe and even “green wishing” if they believe that unsold, unwanted apparel is somehow recycled and becomes available to be worn again. In 2013, the famous European fashion retailer H&M, launched a global clothing collection campaign. The company promised at the time that 95% of the thousand tonnes of textiles thrown away each year could be worn again or recycled. Consumers were led to believe that discarded items of apparel would be turned into fabrics and ultimately new products. Instead, and despite company denials, investigative journalists reported that old clothes were not recycled but ultimately dumped and Africa appears to have been the dumping ground of choice. Fashion is simply not a sustainable product. But it is not just a single fashion retailer involved in this process. It has to be virtually every clothing retailer. Whilst word within the fashion industry is that the very high-end labels and haute courtier brands prefer to burn their unsold stock (creating air pollution issues) for fear of the unsold items appearing at discount houses, it is the fast-fashion companies that now exist in almost every shopping district in Taiwan that must answer the question – where does it go? Fashion industry experts confirm that the lack of transparency in the fashion industry is intentional and that it is deemed convenient not to have data on the ultimate fate of unsold apparel. We the consumer are partly to blame. Consumers will keep the oil and gas industries under tight scrutiny, but fashion is just seen as fun and frivolous. There is an absence of academic research or journalistic investigation to properly understand the impact. If you do not have the data and do not know the impact, then it is hard to hold the fashion industry accountable. There has not been the same kind of academic pressures or journalistic pressures to try to understand the impact. It's convenient for the industry not to know because if you do not know the data, you cannot be accountable for it. Let us make the fairly easy assumption, that most unwanted clothing in Taiwan ends up being burned in incinerators, and some may end up in landfills. If it is burned in incinerators, then we have the immediate issue of potential air pollution. If it does end up in landfill, then how long does it take that material to degrade? It depends, is generally the answer. Even a layperson would assume that degradation would depend on the type of fabric and environmental factors. Natural fibers like cotton, wool, and silk should degrade more easily compared with synthetic fibers. There is also the disturbing fact that as fibers decompose, they release microplastics, which have clearly researched detrimental effects on Taiwan’s environment and wildlife. The government should and must get involved just as they have with other industries. Put the force of law behind this important subject and suddenly you have the likelihood of effective models surfacing to help alleviate the problem. On Wednesday (July 5), the European Commission (EU Commission) unveiled new proposed rules aimed at supporting the sustainable management of textile waste and placing responsibility for the full lifecycle of textile products in the hands of producers. According to the EU Commission, consumption of textiles has the fourth highest impact on climate change and the environment, after food, housing, and mobility, and is one of the top factors impacting water and land use as well as greenhouse gas emissions. The EU Commission’s new proposal includes introducing mandatory Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) schemes, similar to those that have been used to manage waste from packaging, batteries, and electric and electronic equipment. Under the EPR scheme, producers would be required to cover the costs of management of textile waste, with the amount paid into the scheme adjusted based on the textiles’ environmental performance.
Source: The Taiwan News
Bangladesh’s apparel industry appears to be navigating the global downturn better than Sri Lanka by achieving an over 5% growth in exports to $ 19.6 billion upto May whilst the latter is languishing with a 16% decline to $ 1.8 billion. Industry analysts said in the US, where Bangladesh does not have any preferential trade terms, its exports are down by 12% to $ 3.4 billion whereas Sri Lanka’s dip is severe at 25% to $ 746 million. “This would be because of pricing, as Bangladesh has the scale that Sri Lanka doesn’t have,” analysts opined. In the EU and the UK where Bangladesh has complete duty-free access, the position is quite divergent. Bangladesh›s exports to the EU were up 3% to $ 9.7 billion whereas Sri Lanka›s exports were down 14% to $ 557 million. Its exports to six countries in EU region, i.e. Germany, Poland, Latvia, Malta, Lithuania, and Slovenia have slowed down; the remaining countries have shown positive growth. Particularly, exports to Germany, the largest export destination for us in the EU, declined by 18.53% to $ 2.58 billion in Jan-May 2023 from $ 3.17 billion in Jan-May 2022. In France and Spain, exports reached $ 1.24 and $ 1.52 billion with 13.99% and 20% growth respectively. At the same time, exports to Italy have also shown promising growth by 30.63% ($ 940.38 million). Bangladesh’ exports to the UK are up 12% to $ 2.2 billion whereas Sri Lanka’s exports were down by 15% to $ 264 million. Bangladesh’s latest performance could further benefit on the back of the UK DCTS scheme which is extremely favourable to countries such as Bangladesh whereas Sri Lanka has the same as the EU scheme, which is duty-free on garments made from (EU/UK) or SAARC fabrics only. More importantly, Bangladesh’s exports to non-traditional markets have increased significantly by 33.34% to reach $ 3.64 billion from $ 2.73 billion in Jan-May 2022. Currently, the share of the non-traditional market to our total apparel export is 18.57%. Among the major non-traditional markets, Bangladesh’s exports to the top market Japan has shown 49.55% growth while exports in other countries such as Australia, India, China, South Korea , Brazil and Turkey have raised by 55.88%, 41.83%, 39.85%, 22.45%, 92.25% and 33.60% respectively. However, few major markets such as UAE, Russia and Chile have shown 8.67%, 0.69% and 19.91% negative growth respectively. Sri Lanka›s exports to other markets were down by 3% to $ 317 million upto May 2023. Analysts said Bangladesh is giving utmost priority on diversifying markets, not only to ensure sustained export growth and reduce overconcentration, but also as a strategy to prepare for the country’s graduation out of the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) on 24 November 2026. This month (July) a Bangladesh Apparel Summit is being held in Melbourne, Australia considering the importance of the market as well as to open dialogue on post LDC market access issues. Analysts also said that Bangladesh has also introduced special finance schemes to help the apparel industry. Its Government has created a BDT 50 billion scheme called “pre-shipment credit refinancing scheme” to support export-oriented companies affected by the COVID-19 pandemic in April 2021. Previously, the interest rate for such loans at the client level was 5%. As per the new circular issued by Bangladesh Bank, the rate has decreased to 3% at the client level. The banks are also able to disburse up to 50% loan for packing credit under this pre-shipment credit refinancing scheme. This will significantly help Bangladesh factories to meet the need for working capital, analysts emphasised. The Bangladesh Bank has also created another scheme titled “Export Facilitation Fund” of BDT 100 billion to support export-oriented companies to import raw materials. An exporter is allowed to take a loan of a maximum of BDT 2 billion from the fund with only 4% interest rate, which is a pre-finance scheme by nature. This will add further flexibility in securing funds for raw materials sourcing at a lowered cost if we can make use of it.
Source: The ft.lk
American lifestyle brand Gap collaborates with multinational toy company Mattel, Inc., inspired by its portfolio of brands that include Barbie, to launch a Barbie-inspired apparel collection, ahead of the worldwide release of Barbie on July 21, directed by Greta Gerwig, starring Margot Robbie as Barbie, and Ryan Gosling as Ken. Ever since the film was announced, there has been a buzz around it especially for 90s kids, who have grown up with the Barbie dolls, that became an important part of their childhood, not only playing with them but also knowing every character, that invokes nostalgia. Gap x Mattel product drop will be the Gap x Barbie collection, which includes tees, skirts, logo hoodies, denim and button-downs – all designed on Gap’s product icons featuring classic Barbie® branding and Gap’s signature arch typeface. Starting May 23, the Gap x Barbie collection will be available for the entire family to shop on the official website around the world, and in select Gap stores globally, with select styles offered through Mattel Creations, Mattel’s collector and direct-to-consumer platform. In India, the collection hits Gap stores across the country on July 21. “We are excited to partner with Gap to combine Mattel’s iconic brand portfolio with Gap’s signature products,” said Josh Silverman, chief franchise officer and global head of consumer products at Mattel. "We look forward to working together to offer our fans fun, quality clothing for the entire family, plus a new way to embrace their favorite Mattel brands, franchises, characters and stories.” “Gap’s partnership with Mattel represents two iconic brands collaborating on products that customers can wear as a family, and have fun,” said Christopher Goble, head of merchandising at Gap. “Each launch will celebrate our optimistic spirit of individuality and connection through creative expression and play. I can’t wait for people around the world to create memories with Gap x Mattel.” Interestingly, this is not the first time that Gap and Barbie have partnered together. In 1995, Gap and Barbie produced a red Gap logo fit for Barbie herself, followed by 'Barbie in Khakis' debuting in 1996, and the 'Barbie and Kelly in Denim' collection a year later.
Source: The mid-day.com
