The Hindu Business Line : Textile exporters face non-tariff barriers in US

INSTANCES of domestic export consignments facing non-tariff barriers in the US market are on the rise, as textile exports to the US grow in volumes. The restrictions are mainly in the form of shipments being subjected to rigorous labelling and marking requirements, security parameters and document verification at US ports and issues relating to compliance with labour and environmental norms, senior Government officials said.

According to officials, several instances of clampdown on export consignments in the US have been brought to the Government's notice, most of which have resulted in delay in shipments. "Cases of non-tariff barriers being imposed on Indian textile exports have come to light in the last few months. These issues are being addressed through Non-Agricultural Market Access negotiations under the World Trade Organisation with specific references to non-tariff restrictions on import of textiles and apparel in the developed countries," a Textile Ministry official said.

Following the clampdown on Chinese exports, it was widely expected that Indian exports could also be targeted through non-tariff measures, mainly on the behest of the US textile industry's demands to curb imports into the country. The main forms of restrictions that have been raised, with respect to some Indian shipments in the US, are in the form of norms violating US child labour policies, sanitary measures in the Indian suppliers' workplace, suspected use of azo-dyes and security checks of consignments.

Indian exporters, who have clocked a 25 per cent average growth in 2005, second only to China, are already facing `spot audits' from bigger US buyers such as Wal-Mart and JC Penney. The audits being conducted by the US buyers on their Indian suppliers, aims at checking instances of child labour and ensure that labour standards being used conform to stipulated norms.

According to industry sources, these checks are over and above the mandatory social audits conducted annually by the bigger retailers on their supplier base in India and other countries such as Pakistan and Bangladesh.

The clampdown on Indian suppliers by the US and the EU can happen only through the non-tariff barrier route, unlike in case of China where shipments are being restricted by the US and the EU through provisions in China's entry agreement to the WTO. While China has already been subjected to `safeguard quotas' in the US market, exporters could see more of such non-tariff barriers being imposed as Indian exports to these markets grow in volumes.