Pakistan Allows Cotton Imports From Central Asia, Afghanistan

Industry news

Pakistan Allows Cotton Imports From Central Asia, Afghanistan

Pakistan's Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the cabinet has approved import of cotton from Afghanistan and Central Asian states via the land route to meet its shortfall in the key textile industry. The ECC took the decision in line with a proposal submitted by the Ministry of Commerce and Textile during a meeting presided over by the Finance Minister Asad Umar. The meeting, however, allowed the import via Torkham border with the condition that imported cotton should meet sanitary & phytosanitary regulations. "ECC also directed the relevant ministries to engage with the industry for establishment of a permanent quarantine facility for cotton imported through land route," the finance ministry said in a statement. Pakistan is a net cotton importer with the textile industry consuming 12-15 million bales per annum. The country imports cotton from various sources. Afghanistan and Central Asian states are producers and exporters of cotton and they have reasonable share in Pakistan's import mix as imports from these countries are cheap due to land route compared to the United States and other destinations. Pakistani cotton is of short to medium staple length and therefore extra long staple cotton has to be imported for production of finer yarn counts. The commerce ministry said cotton is a sensitive crop and attracts variety of pests. "For majority of cotton, Afghanistan is only a transit route and for that purpose pest scouting of Central Asian states would also be required otherwise it would be great threat of new pests harming domestic cotton," the ministry said in the proposal, citing the Ministry of National Food Security and Research. Textile industry, however, said only American cotton is subject to quarantine process under the quarantine rules. "Therefore, such regulations are not applicable on Afghanistan and Central Asian cotton," the All Pakistan Textile Mills Association was quoted in the proposal as saying.