Acrylic yarn sector seeks cover from Nepalese imports

Rajeev Jayaswal

New Delhi, Aug 14: Refuting Nepal’s claim that it is exporting only a negligible volume of acrylic yarn to India, the domestic yarn industry has alleged that there is a gross misuse of the classification by the Nepalese exporters.

In a letter to the textile secretary, a leading industry association pointed out that though there is an increase in acrylic yarn exports from Nepal to India and the phenomenal increase is not reported due to the misuse of the classification system by Nepalese exporters.

As a result, the domestic acrylic yarn industry is facing a major crisis. During 2000, imports shot up to 14,000 tonne, nearly 15 per cent of the total domestic demand, from the 160 tonne during 1996.
The domestic manufacturers fear this figure will rise to 25,000 tonne by ’03. To have a level playing-field, the domestic industry said the government should ask Nepal to slap customs duty on import of fibre equivalent to those applicable in India.The import increased sharply after the Indo-Nepal treaty was amended in 1996, whereby the provision relating to ‘the rule of origin’ of the fibre was scrapped and it also allowed duty-free import of man-made fabric into India.