Allowing import of coir would badly affect the lives of more than four lakh workers in the coir industry, federation chairman Anathalavattom Anandan told a press conference here.

He said Kerala had already lost its monopoly over coconut production to its neighbouring states. Coir and allied products worth Rs 50 crore had accumulated in the market, forcing the small scale producers to cease production.

Under these circumstances, the import of coir from Sri Lanka would badly affect the sector, he said adding that the commodity be placed under the negative list as already done for rubber and tea.

He said Coirfed would hold a special all party convention to discuss the crises faced by the industry and to plan future action in this regard on Saturday next at Alappuzha.

The ruling Left Front convener V S Achuthanandan, leader of the opposition and senior Congress leader A K Antony, Coir Board chairman Christy Fernandez, V M Sudheeran, Varkala Radhakrishnan, M K Premachandran (all MPs from the state), other political party leaders, various trade Union leaders, representatives of coir exporters, small scale coir manufacturers, coir workers and coir co-operative societies would attend the convention, he said.