Indian exporters want textiles & apparel pact with EU

17 Jul '12

2 min read

Garment exporters in India have urged the Government to sign a textiles and clothing trade pact with the EU, prior to entering into a free trade agreement (FTA).

Speaking at the inauguration of Tex Trends 2012, Mr. A Sakthivel, Chairman of Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC), said in view of the current slump in demand in EU for Indian garments, India and EU should reach an agreement on textiles and apparels ahead of FTA between the two sides.

During the initial two months of the current fiscal, there has been a 48.1 percent drop in India’s clothing exports to the EU, which stood at US$ 0.67 billion, compared to exports of US$ 1.3 billion achieved during the same period of last fiscal.

The EU accounts for about 49 percent of India’s total apparel exports.

Currently, the Indian Government is negotiating an agreement, which seeks larger market access for its garments in the EU region, among other things.

In addition to a pact with EU, the apparel exporters are also urging the Government to give more concessions to help the sector promote its products in non-traditional markets, especially Australia, Brazil, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Russia, South Africa and Uruguay, where demand for Indian apparels is growing.

The exporters are requesting for additional sops up to 2013-14 for garment exports to Brazil, Japan, South Africa, Australia, Russia and South Korea.

They are also urging an extension of the five percent duty credit scrip up to 2013-14 for some far away non-traditional markets such as Mexico, Chile, Argentina, New Zealand and Australia.

According to AEPC, India’s clothing exports to non-traditional markets increased by 15 percent to US$ 3.15 billion in 2011-12, as against its exports of US$ 2.7 billion in the previous fiscal.

Fibre2fashion News Desk - India

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