The Ministry of Textiles and The Indian Silk Export Promotion Council (ISEPC) in association with Textiles Committee, under the Ministry of Textiles is organising a Capacity Building Programme (CBP) under the project “Implication of Non Tariff Barriers (NTBs) on Textiles and Clothing Exports of India” on 25th September 2012 at Silver Oak, India Habitat Centre, New Delhi.
This is the first amongst a series of 10 workshops which is planned by Textiles Committee at important textile centres of the country with the active support of different Export Promotion Councils under the Ministry of Textiles. The theme of the CBP is “Compliance and Strategy for Trade Facilitation”.
The inauguration of the workshop will be solemnized by the Secretary (Textiles), Government of India, Smt Kiran Dhingra, IAS, while Shri S.P Oswal, Chairman of Textiles Committee and Chairman & Managing Director of Vardhman Textiles Limited will address the delegates as the Guest of Honour. The other dignitaries attending the workshop are Shri V Srinivas, IAS, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Textiles, Shri A.B Joshi, Textile Commissioner of India; and Smt Monika Garg, IAS Joint Secretary, Ministry of Textiles. In the technical sessions of the workshop, the experts will deliberate on issues related to NTBs including its effects on the exports of textiles and clothing sector.
With the reduction of tariffs under the Doha Development Round (DDA) of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), most of the countries have been increasingly using NTBs as a major trade restrictive measure for denying market access to the export interest of other countries.
NTBs are trade barriers other than the tariff barriers and can take various forms. Broadly these can be categorized as Import Policy Barriers, Standards, Testing, Labeling and Certification requirements, Anti-dumping & Countervailing Measures, Export Subsidies and Domestic Support, Government procurement & Private Standards, etc. These measures are being imposed by the importing countries in the name of Quality, Social and Environment, Ethical Compliances Standards and many more. Further, implementation of Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) Regulation by the European Union is the latest addition to the basket of these barriers. Also, these country specific barriers are complemented by the importers/buyers with private standards, which, the importers project as business & market promotion tools.
The Textiles & Clothing (T&C) sector, the production is largely organised in Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), is unable to meet the stringent stipulations imposed by popular export destinations. It is evident that the developed countries like EU, US, Japan are increasingly using these measures for denying market access to the countries like India. Further, the destinations like Middle-East and South American countries are also increasingly using these as important trade restricting measures.
The restrictions in lieu of NTBs are mainly in the form of shipments being subjected to rigorous labeling and marking requirements, security parameters and document verification at ports and issues relating to compliance with labour and environmental norms, Technical Barrier to Trade (TBTs), Labeling and Packaging, Social Accountability, Private Standards, Health and Consumer Safety Measures, etc. The list is expanding day by day as more countries are resorting to new measures for restricting the market access. It is estimated that more than $18 billion of T& C export of the country has been subjected to Technical Barriers to Trade (TBTs) in different export destinations during 2010.
Keeping the growing importance of these barriers and its adverse effect on the export interest of the sector, this Capacity Building Workshop is being organised with the following objectives:
- There is an immediate need to create awareness on the Non-Tariff Barriers/Measures. Also understanding the problems of duplicity of work, the time loss, increase in the manufacturing cost, the administrative bottlenecks, etc arising out of such NTBs/Measures.
- Prepare the stakeholders to mitigate the Adverse effects
- To inform the stakeholders about the type of NTBs of the various export destinations for the benefit of new /prospective exporters.
- To inform the stakeholders on the availability of cost effective solutions to manage and rationalize the NTBs
- To collect feedback from the stakeholders for better policy prescriptions
- to prepare a common code of compliance acceptable to overseas buyers on the basis of the feedback received.
The representatives of Textile and Clothing manufacturing and trading associations, Export Promotion Councils (EPCs), exporters, policy planners of the central & state governments, research organizations, centre of excellences, financial institutions, civil society organizations, buying houses and other support service provides are expected to participate and interact in the workshop.
The programme will create an opportunity for close interaction among the stakeholders, government agencies (state & centre), exporting fraternity,etc. for preparing future strategy in a common platform. The concerns of the stakeholders of the industry would be recorded and the feedback/inputs will be provided to the government to prepare adequate policy measures for the sector.
Source:
http://www.fibre2fashion.com/news/textile-news/newsdetails.aspx?news_id=116079
