LAHORE: Government allowed
cotton imports from India to meet the growing appetite of key textile industry,
though it slapped tough set of rules for consignments from the neighboring
country, officials said on Thursday.“Pakistan is likely to start issuing permit
for import of cotton from India through land route in a next few days under new
tough conditions that may not fully ease already imposed restrictions on
trade,” an official said.
Pakistan, which is the world’s fourth largest cotton producing country, falls
short of around four million bales a year to meet the local demand of nearly 16
million bales. Officials said a permit from the Department of Plant Protection
of Pakistan’s food ministry is mandatory, under the new phytosanitary
conditions, for import of unprocessed cotton, including raw or seed cotton,
cotton lint, linters, cotton waste and cotton stuffing from India.
The National Plant Protection Organisation would inspect and test the
consignments according to appropriate procedures and to ensure the goods are
free from biosecurity pests. “The goods must be clean and free of contaminant
seed, soil and plant debris and other bio-security risk material prior to
arrival in Pakistan,” the department said in a letter.
Pakistan used to import 0.5 to 2.8 million bales from India in the past, but
the government suspended the import last year because of some objection of the
Department of Plant Protection.Naseem Usman, chairman of
Karachi Cotton Brokers Association expected an import of around 0.7 million
bales from India this year. Usman said textile mills have signed import
contracts of 1.8 million bales from countries, including US, Brazil, South
Africa and Middle East.
Ihsanul Haq, chairman of Pakistan Cotton Ginners Forum, however, said the new
conditions would not help in fully restoring cotton trade between the two
countries. A senior textile ministry’s official, defending the government’s
move, said tough conditions are indispensable to protect any threat to local
cotton crop. “Due to flawed cotton ginning process in India, it has been
observed that cotton seed was also found in the imported consignments,” he said,
requesting anonymity. “This seed may contain diseases and also carry eggs of
various insects and pests. So, it is important to allow import of cotton after
going through all phytosanitary requirements.”
Usman argued that Indian cotton is good in quality, “while it would be
convenient for us to buy from India, as delivery time is short and price is
feasible.” Haq agreed that the cotton prices would also fall in the local
market following the import from the neighbouring country.Textile mills have
been long demanding restoration of cotton import from India, the world’s second
biggest cotton producer, to meet shortfall in local production. All Pakistan
Textile Mills Association (Aptma) also urged the government to immediately
notify withdrawal of four percent customs duty and five percent sales tax and
other non-tariff restrictions on import of cotton to enable the industry to
meet its export commitments.
An Aptma official said the government should remove phytosanitary restrictions.
The official said the government pledged to withdraw the import restrictions in
the Prime Minister Trade Enhancement package in January. The department further
said an Indian consignment arrived without valid import permit and
phytosanitary certificate would be destroyed or deported.“The department reserves the
right, if considered necessary to cancel the import permit even after issuance
on detection of bio-security pests/risks or any other violation of import
conditions,” it said. The department further said non-commodity concerns
must be assessed, including container cleanliness, packaging and destination
concerns, “and may be subject to inspection and treatment on arrival.”
Source: Business Recorder, Pakistan Friday, 01 December 2017