To prepare the industry for the opportunities opened up by the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) with the UK, the ministry of commerce and industry on Monday held a meeting with the textile, leather and footwear sectors.
The aim of the meeting was to inform the representatives from both the sectors about the changes that the CETA will bring about for them and take their views on further support they might require to take full advantage of the preferential access to the UK market.
Stakeholder Outreach
More sector-based stakeholder consultations and workshops are slated to be held in the next few days to prepare the industry to convert the potential opportunities created under CETA to actual gains. The ministry will also reach out to the manufacturing clusters in states to prepare them for benefiting from the provisions of the landmark agreement.
Zero-duty access
The agreement provides Indian textile and clothing products with duty free access to UK market and addresses the duty disadvantages (of up to 12%) that the Indian textiles sector faced in UK vis a vis some key competing countries like Bangladesh, Cambodia and Pakistan. The zero-duty market access will benefit segments such as Ready-Made Garments, Home Textiles, Carpets and Handicrafts and set the tone for a sharp surge in exports.
CETA also eliminates UK’s import duties for Indian leather and footwear, which till now are ranging from 2% to 8% for leather goods, 4.5% for leather footwear, and 11.9% for non-leather footwear. This levels the playing field for Indian exporters against competitors such as Bangladesh, Cambodia, and Vietnam, who have enjoyed preferential access to the UK market.
“The tariff elimination is expected to nearly double India’s leather and footwear exports to the UK to $ 1 billion from $ 494 million within three years. CETA will also boost visibility of GI products like Kolhapuri footwear and Mojari in the UK’s $ 8.7 billion leather and footwear market,” a commerce ministry statement said.
Invitees to the meeting included the Council for Leather Exports (CLE), Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Confederation of Indian Footwear Industry (CIFI), Indian Footwear Components Manufacturers Association (IFCOMA), the Footwear Design and Development Institute (FDDI), Central Leather Research Institute (CLRI) and Leather Sector Skill Council (LSSC).
Various Textile Export Promotion Councils, Industry Associations and textile exporters. Key government departments, including the Ministry of Textiles, Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT), Department of Revenue, Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), as well as senior officials from the Department of Commerce, also attended the meeting to deliberate on opportunities and sectoral preparedness arising from the agreement.