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The National Council of Textile Organizations (NCTO) has come out in support of the reintroduction of the Textile Enforcement and Security Act (TESA) in the 113th Congress. Congressmen Tom Graves and Mike McIntyre reintroduced the bill in the House of Representatives on November 20. The bill seeks to increase US Customs and Border Protection enforcement activities as well as improve trade facilitation through enhanced targeting, increased resources and greater authority.
Due to the high-risk nature and the prevalence of fraud in textile and apparel imports, US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) designated the textile industry as a Priority Trade Issue — yet the industry continues to experience serious fraud, particularly in the CAFTA and NAFTA regions. As the third largest exporter of textile products in the world, the US textile industry depends on strong customs enforcement for its livelihood.
The TESA legislation addresses many of the industry’s key concerns by providing CBP with expanded authority to better target fraudulent textile and apparel goods coming into the US, while also implementing additional tools and resources to increase the agency’s commercial enforcement efforts and reduce the prevalence of fraud that creates an uneven playing field for the US textile industry.
CNITA, The China Nonwovens and Industrial Textile Association and EDANA have signed a partnership agreement following a meeting of the Sino-Euro Nonwoven Industry Cooperation, in the presence of representatives from the CNTAC China National Textile and Apparel Council, the Sub-Council of Textile Industry, China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT TEX).
The agreement promotes equal and mutual benefit relationship between the two associations, and will involve discussions of jointly relevant issues and detail before the implementation of cooperation projects. The agreement shall be valid for three years, with the option for the two associations to modify or extend the agreement.
The strategic agreement will be focused on a mutual agreement and sharing in the field of product testing and standards, of statistical methods and data, and it will explore ways to facilitate nonwovens related trade between the two regions, as well as cooperation in effective exhibition opportunities, information and data sharing and the potential of co-organising international professional meetings.
Cnita.org
www.edana.org
German machine manufacturer Karl Mayer has acquired majority stake in Liba. Both Karl Mayer and Liba are family-owned companies. For decades, Karl Mayer and Liba have been world leaders in the development, manufacturing and distribution of warp knitting machines and machines for the production of technical textiles.
The merger is expected to enhance the market prospects in Germany of these giants in warp knitting machine manufacturing. Liba was founded in 1945. The company invests continuously in state-of-the art designing and manufacturing equipment. It cares for its customers, from project planning through specification and project management to installed machinery and offers extensive after sales services. The fast implementation of customers’ specific demands and state-of-the art production methods secure short delivery times.
Karl Mayer is a leading global manufacturer of warp knitting machines and warp preparation machines for knitting and weaving. Applications include garment textiles, sports textiles, underwear, lace, home textiles, technical textiles. It has been operating in India since 2009. The technical support centres are in Mumbai, Pune and Ahmedabad. Karl Mayer has expanded its service activities in India and supports all its own warp preparation machines as well as the machines that had previously been installed by Benninger, Sucker and Griffin.
Workplace violence against women garment workers in India and Bangladesh is being increasingly acknowledged as a serious problem. The Fair Wear Foundation has launched a program to tackle this. It combats harassment and violence against female workers with a three-prong strategy: training courses for managers and workers; anti-harassment policies and committees; and worker help lines. The project involves garment factories, European clothing brands, governments, civil society organisations and trade unions, both in Europe and in Asia. It’s providing rare insight and solid documentation of a problem which is rarely spoken about.
It’s estimated about 60 per cent of factory workers in the two countries have experienced some form of harassment – verbal or physical – while at work. Hostile working conditions lead to low productivity and high worker turnover. It also limits the potential contributions of millions of women workers to the broader society and economy.
Things are slowly changing. Factories are allowing training for workers and managers on the importance and benefits of treating women better; several anti-harassment committees and telephone help lines have been established; workers are speaking up about problems; and factories and clothing brands are working together to remedy those problems.
www.fairwear.org
The Techtextil fair will be held at Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre from January 19 to 21, 2014. Over 1,000 exhibitors and more than 22,000 visitors are expected to take part in the 16th edition. Messe Frankfurt is expanding its Techtextil brand to the growing technical textile markets in the Middle East. Techtextil is the international trade fair for technical textiles and nonwovens.
UK-based Technical Absorbents Limited (TAL), a leader in superabsorbent product technologies, will be one of the prominent participants at the fair. TAL will be displaying its Super Absorbent Fiber (SAF) technologies and SAF-based converted product portfolio – nonwovens, wovens, yarns and tapes. These are suitable for a wide range of markets and applications, including advanced wound care, filtration, water-blocking geo textiles and water-blocking yarns and tapes for the cable market, water management agrotextiles, and fabric technology for coolant apparel garments.
One of the main products on display will be TAL’s durable KoolSorb technology – a washable fabric created to provide sweat absorption and comfort functionality when worn under heavy clothing.
Intersec 2014, the leading international trade fair for safety and security, will be held concurrently. With Intersec visitors in mind, TAL will also be available to discuss how its technology can be applied within flame-retardant applications.
www.messefrankfurt.com/.../techtextil/.../techtextil--techtextil-middle-eas..
Textile firms from over 20 countries participated at the recently concluded Third International Fair of Cotton Products, at Ashgabat in Turkmenistan. Some of the countries that participated at the two day fair (November 23 to 24) are Russia, US, UK, Japan, Italy, Singapore, India, Bangladesh, Iran, Turkey and Afghanistan. Special attention was paid to the marketing of products manufactured with cotton produced in Turkmenistan.
The objective of the fair was to provide opportunities to establish mutually beneficial contacts and strengthen long-term partnership between local cotton producers and foreign customers. The two-day fair saw participation from major agricultural departments, cotton enterprises and textile industries of Turkmenistan as well as other countries.
The aim of the event was to develop the agricultural sector and the cotton industry, expand research in cotton growing and promote cooperation with international organizations in this sector. The fair gave guests and participants information about the latest specimen products, advanced manufacturing technologies, technical and crop varieties, seed stock and recycled materials.
Turkmenistan is interested in development of cotton processing and textile manufacturing in the country. Cotton is considered white gold. It is the basis of the financial prosperity of the country’s agriculture.
www.cottonexhibition.gov.tm
In a bid to provide year-round online access to a range of sustainable fabrics and textile mills, The Sustainable Angle, which initiates and supports projects that contribute to minimizing environmental impacts, has released the first version of its forthcoming Future Fabrics Virtual Expo.
The 3rd edition of Future Fabrics Expo in London displayed hundreds of sustainable fabrics. After encouraging response from visitors, the idea of launching a virtual expo concept was born. The concept is an online source of exhibitors that can be referred to after the event, wherein the Future Fabrics Virtual Expo also provides more in-depth information on textiles and mills.
This online version of the expo features six mills including Kassim Denim with organic cotton denim fabrics, textile designer Susan Gaunt Design with British wool, and Club Masters of Linen, with European linen. The second and more in-depth version of the Future Fabrics Virtual Expo will be launched in spring 2014. It is intended to provide an online tool for communication between textile mills and fabrics buyers and designers, allowing information on sustainability and sourcing to be easily shared, available on a subscription basis.
www.thesustainableangle.org
Dirtball, an apparel company based in Hickory, North Carolina is known for its eco-friendly clothing and American-made apparel. They have succeeded in creating a formula of selling clothing and gear made from recycled cotton, plastic, and polyester since 2008. In September, Dirtball unveiled its newest innovation – the Green Jean to the market.
The Green Jean, like everything in Dirtball’s product line, is made completely from recycled materials, using recycled and organic cotton and 8-10 recycled water bottles in every pair. There are four styles of Green Jean that are currently available; Rigid, Enzymed, Regular, and Khaki. Rigid is a black jean, Regular is a modern ultra-dark denim, and Enzymed is a medium-color blue denim, while Khaki is an eco-friendly take on a classic.
Dirtball has sourced all the materials for the jeans from regional suppliers; all metal pieces are from Georgia, denim and stitching supplies are sourced locally from North Carolina, and final assembly is done in Kentucky. Founded in 2008 by Joe Fox, race car driver, entrepreneur and North Carolina native, Dirtball constructs eco-friendly apparel and gear for active individuals – cutting across age and gender lines.
www.dirtballfashion.com
Nylstar, a leading supplier of nylon 6.6 and worldwide known by its brand Meryl, announces an investment of more than 1,200,000 euros that enables the company to significantly increase its production capacity from 15,000 to 17,000 annual tons. The investment comprises an installation of 21 Barmag winding machines that will increase productivity and will reduce waste considerably.
This investment will allow Nylstar to enlarge the variety of its product range; with a clear commitment of the company to deliver even more value-added products. The new equipment will be installed in January 2014 and will be operating immediately.
With challenging conditions both in the textile industry and in the market, Nylstar has been able to increase 10 per cent YTD its sales volume as the result of its focus on innovation and customer service. Nylstar, the Spanish provider of Nylon 6.6 fibers founded in 1923, believes in ongoing innovation and textile research, generating upscale concepts that aim to improve consumer’s quality of life.
Turkish denim specialist Calik Denim has unveiled a new eco-denim line to showcase its ongoing sustainability work. Called 'Botanical Sense,' the collection will launch with 20 new natural denims made from organic cotton, BCI (Better Cotton Initiative) cotton, recycled cotton, linen, paper yarn, Tencel and Modal.
Dyestuffs are either natural indigo or those approved by the Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS). And finishes feature the recently introduced less-water technology or natural ingredients.
With stretch, super-stretch, comfort stretch and rigid articles, the collection is specifically designed for the Northern European markets. At the company's production plant in Malatya, the entire process is environmentally-friendly. Its R&D centre is currently working on 36 projects including vegetable dyes, energy-saving finishes and reducing water use in production. In particular, the Eco-Save process uses 65 per cent less water and chemicals in a typical denim production cycle, and has resulted in an average drop of 70 per cent in production waste, the company says.
Another innovation is a special finishing technique that gives a very soft handle along with a smoother and shinier surface appearance but also uses 50 per cent less water and just a quarter of the chemicals compared to other conventional finishes, according to Calik.
