EU’s duty-free list omits key textile products

Key items, if included in list will boost Pakistan’s exports by up to €1 billion: federal minister textile industries.

ISLAMABAD: A list of 15 items has been prepared by the textile ministry which, if included in the duty-free tariff list proposed by the European Union (EU), would boost Pakistan’s exports by up to €1 billion, according to Rana Muhammad Farooq Saeed Khan, the federal minister for textile industries. The list will be forwarded to the EU through official diplomatic channels.

The current concessionary list of 75 items proposed by the EU accounts for less than a third of Pakistan’s exports and would increase them by merely €100 million, added Khan, at a meeting regarding preferential market access in EU to certain textile products.

While terming the trade concessions “a historic breakthrough in trade diplomacy,” the minister was quick to point out that the thrust of the concessions is largely focused on low-value products like gloves, mittens, socks, etc whereas value-added products like bed-linen and garments are omitted.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 14^th, 2010.