Move to place polyester fibre in FTA negative list opposed

Mumbai: Indian Spinners' Association has protested against the proposal to place polyester fibre in the Negative List under the ongoing Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations with ASEAN on the ground that it would lead to an inverted duty structure as also provide unwarranted protection to domestic raw material producers. Objecting to the proposal, the association in a representation to the Textile Secretary and Commerce Secretary has pointed out that while the domestic polyester fibre units will have protection, processed or value added products such as yarn and fabrics made out of polyester fibre will be exposed to serious competition and price risks. The two manufacturers of polyester fibre in the country represent global scale production capacity and their domestic sale prices will be import parity prices, which could be considerably above the landed cost, the association has pointed out. It added that lack of adequate tariff protection to man-made spinning, weaving, processing and garmenting industry could hurt employment prospects in the labour-intensive downstream industries.