FICCI welcomes the recent multi-faceted measures taken by the government to address the problems of the textile industry. Increase in import duty on 76 textile items from 10 to 20 per cent and GST reduction on carpets and handicraft items have given a big relief to domestic textile, carpet and handicraft manufacturers, said Shishir Jaipuria, Chairman, FICCI Textile Committee.

The Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council at its 28th meeting held under the chairmanship of Union minister for railways, coal, finance and corporate affairs Piyush Goyal has recommended for allowing refund of input tax credit (ITC) to fabrics. The refund of accumulated ITC shall be with prospective effect on purchases made after notification is issued.

Eco Spindles, a wholly-owned subsidiary of BPPL Holdings Ltd (BPPL), recently inaugurated Sri Lanka’s first ever polyester yarn plant at Horana Export Processing Zone with an investment of SLR 800 million. The unit, with spinning and texturing machinery from Europe, will manufacture polyester yarn from recycled polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottle flakes.

Most textiles do not require high water and oil repellency, and use of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) should be limited to applications for which technical performance is “unique and critical”, according to the European Commission. For other applications, safer alternatives should be used, said the Commission’s Valentina Bertato.

The GST Council in its 28th meeting held recently under the Chairmanship of PiyushGoyal, Union Minister for Railways, Coal, Finance & Corporate Affairs has approved the new return formats and associated changes in law. It may be recalled that in the 27th meeting held on 4thof May, 2018 the Council had approved the basic principles of GST return design and directed the law committee to finalise the return formats and changes in law.

Sri Lanka’s deficit in the trade account has been on a continuous expansion, but the pace at which it grew during the month of May decelerated after many months, as the country’s goods exports grew faster than its imports bill.

The ongoing trade war between the US and China will be beneficial for Bangladesh’s garment sector as the American brands will place more work orders here to branch out their sourcing, according to a new survey.

Based on the mechanism of the recently unveiled, patent-pending instant cooling hydro functional polymer, the Swiss textile innovator HeiQ has announced that a suite of new products will be added to the HeiQ Smart Temp product family for a full range of activated cooling technology, customizable for each fabric type and intended cooling performance.

The Government of India’s decision to increase basic customs duty (import duty) to 20 per cent on 76 textile and apparel items at 6-digit level, is a significant move and will strengthen the domestic textile industry, The Synthetic & Rayon Textiles Export Promotion Council (SRTEPC) has said. The duty has come into effect from July 16, 2018.