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CHENNAI, March 22

TEXPROCIL (Cotton Textiles Export Promotion Council) has urged the Central Government to counter the recent measures by the EU and Bangladesh, which would adversely hit textile exports.

In a statement to the press, the Chairman of the council, Mr T. Kannan, said the EU had offered special duty free access to imports of textile products from select countries such as Pakistan under its GSP scheme. Similar concessions under the programme for combating drug production and trafficking have been denied to India, and it will make Indian exports uncompetitive, he said.

While the WTO had earlier ruled in favour of India on the anti-dumping proceedings initiated by the EC on imports of bed linen, the EC has initiated review proceedings on imports from India. However, the anti-dumping duties, which had also been levied on imports from Pakistan and Egypt, had been terminated, the statement said.

According to the press statement, these indicate a definite design to discriminate against imports of textile products from India. The EU is offering additional tariff reductions to force the developing countries to accept stricter labour standards after its failure to push the standards through at the Doha meet.

The Bangladesh Government has banned import of cotton yarn through the land route and imposed a 10 per cent regulatory duty on imports of cotton yarn. It has claimed that smuggled yarn from India has affected domestic units' sales. These restrictions will affect Indian exports. The move by the EU and Bangladesh follow one another in a "short span of time", according to the statement.

Unless these discriminatory measures are countered, India will lose its existing market share and will be priced out of the markets, the statement said.

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