The Tamil Nadu government on Saturday urged the Centre to provide sufficient time to the textile industry to comply with the quality control orders (QCOs) for importing viscose and polyester fibres.
The insistence on the QCOs for importing viscose and polyester fibres should only be put in place after the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) disposes of all pending applications filed by the importers seeking QCOs to comply with the quality norms.
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The state government has also asked the Centre to grant exemption for filament yarn and artificial fibres, including bamboo fibres that are not manufactured in India, from QCOs.
In a letter to Union textile minister, Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin said that though implementing QCOs is highly commendable as it will improve the quality and protect the environment, the industry’s interest must also be protected by providing sufficient time to implement the QCOs. Tamil Nadu is a major state where textile industry has deep-rooted presence with Tirupur cluster being the key hub.
The industry has represented that many applications from foreign suppliers are pending inspection and approval by BIS, which can be done only after BIS officials visit the production facilities of such applicants in their respective countries.
Even if these suppliers conform to the QCOs norms, importing such fibres can only be effected once the BIS officials complete all the formalities and approve the applications.
Under the circumstances, many textile fabric and garment manufacturers who have placed orders for such fibres and whose shipment is in transit will likely suffer substantial business losses.
The delay in the import of required quality fibres would force the domestic manufacturers of value-added products to compromise on the quality and thereby lose the business in the long run, the chief minister pointed out.
It is pertinent to note that MSME units generally dominate the textile sector. The manufacturers have been mandated by the authorities to establish testing infrastructure to obtain BIS certification, which is cost intensive and an unviable proposition for MSME units.
The fashion cycles are planned over six months in advance, and orders to source the raw material are placed accordingly. Therefore, these implementation deadlines may hamper several ongoing processes. Further, within viscose and polyester yarns, innovation of novel and sustainable fibres possessing unique characteristics is possible due to continuous R&D.
General QCOs may not become applicable to such fibres. In the case of viscose fibre, though the BIS standard is available for typical viscose fibre, there is no BIS standard specifically designed for bamboo viscose fibre which is in great demand in the export market because of its anti-bacterial and anti-microbial properties, according to government sources.
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The textile industry has certain reservations regarding the implementation of mandatory certification through different QCOs by BIS in respect of various types of man-made fibres and viscose fibres. They are apprehensive that the QCOs issued by the ministry of textiles regarding viscose staple fibres were granted only one month for its implementation. Later, it was extended by two months to make it effective from March 29, 2023.
Similarly, the polyester stable fibre QCO has been made effective from April 3, 2023 by the ministry of chemicals and fertilisers. In respect of polyester fully drawn yarn (FDY), polyester partially oriented yarn (POY), polyester industrial yarn (IDY), and 100% polyester spun grey and white yarn, QCOs will come into effect from July 3, 2023.
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