All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA) strongly rejected the recommendations of Senate Standing Committee on National Food Security and Research to impose Regulatory Duty on the import of cotton from India through the Wagah Border.
A statement issued by the Chairman APTMA, Mr Tariq Saud said that the recommendation of the Senate Committee on National Food Security and Research is based on false data provided to them which has no basis. He said that the ginners do not have more than 100,000 bales of cotton which they will trade before the arrival of new crop. Furthermore, the stock available with the ginners and Trading Corporation of Pakistan (TCP) are of very low quality which can only be used in the open end processing or producing lower count of yarn.
Tariq Saud further said that the Federal Minister for Finance, Mr Ishaq Dar in his budget speech had accepted that due to the failure of cotton crop this year the growth rate had declined by about 0.5 per cent. The failure of local cotton crop by about 35 per cent has placed an extra burden on the industry to import more than 5 million bales of cotton to meet the consumption requirements of the spinning industry, he added.
Chairman APTMA said that this decline in production of cotton in the country has not only affected the operations of basic textile industry, which is already suffering due to high cost of doing business and shortage of energy in the country but also resulted in a surge in import of cotton yarn and fabrics. Due to the high cost of doing business and other factors, the domestic industry is unable to compete in the international market which can be judged from the fact that in the 11 months of the current financial year the imports of cotton yarn have almost doubled as compared to 2014-15, he added.
Chairman APTMA said that India does not give any subsidy to their farmers on export of cotton to Pakistan. Moreover, India after independence has undertaken a variety of land reforms including modern farming system whereas no such land reforms or modern cotton farming technology had been introduced in Pakistan as yet. Land holdings in India are very small and cannot be compared with Pakistan. The reason behind the enhancement in production of cotton crop in India is the introduction of modern technology and research which Pakistan lacks.
Chairman APTMA demanded the government to outrightly reject the recommendation of Senate Standing Committee on National Food Security and Research of imposition of Regulatory Duty on import of cotton from India through Wagah border as the industry is facing an acute shortage of cotton resulting in the local market being flooded with imported yarn and fabrics. He further demanded the government should provide incentives and better quality cotton seeds to the growers traditionally cultivating cotton to produce more cotton instead of other crops.
