All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA) Chairman S M Tanveer has said that the industry is incurring an annual loss of around $6 billion due to the presence of second-hand, smuggled textiles and clothing in the domestic market. APTMA chairman urged economic managers to revisit the customs policy and ensure immediate remedial measures to check entry of second hand, smuggled and imported textiles and clothing in the domestic market.

According to Tanveer, export figures for the financial year 2013-14 reveal that the textile industry, while consuming 3 million tons of all kinds of fibres, produced textile goods predominantly meant for exports. Of this, textile products worth 2.5 million tons of fibre were exported while half a million remaining textile fibre was consumed by the domestic market.

He also added that the per capita consumption of all fibres in Pakistan is around 10 kg against an average of 13 kg per capita world over. Of this 10 kg per capita consumption, the textile industry gets a share of only 3kg per capita while rest is grabbed by second hand, smuggled and imported textiles and clothing products that have entered the domestic market. A heavy influx of second-hand smuggled and clothing products is being cleared by the customs for a price as low as for fibre or cotton.