The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of Pakistan on Wednesday approved to withdraw customs duty on import of cotton yarn till June 30, 2021 to facilitate the textile sector, the finance ministry said.
Shortly after the committee’s decision, Abdul Razak Dawood, Advisor to Prime Minister on Commerce and Industry took to Twitter and said that regulatory duty on cotton yarn import was already withdrawn in December of last year.
“ECC has withdrawn customs duty on import of cotton yarns to facilitate the Value-Added exporters. This will be notified with the approval of the cabinet,” he added.
The regulatory duty was waived by 5 per cent in December 2020. Keeping in mind a decline in the crop, the textile businesses saw this as an opportunity to build competitiveness in the international market.
Jawed Bilwani, the chairperson of Pakistan Apparel Forum said that we also want imposition of duties on cotton yarn exports.“Only the half is done. We want the same level of duties on yarn exports as on yarn imports,” he added.
Although there is a decline in yarn prices but textile exporters still term it as very high. Pakistan is facing a huge challenge to reverse falling cotton production that was estimated to fall 40 per cent.
