Pakistan Readymade Garments Manufacturers and Exporters Association(PRGMEA) has welcomed the withdrawal of customs duty on import of cotton yarn by the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet in order to ensure smooth supply of it to the value-added industry.

Sohail Sheikh, Central Chairman, said that the government’s earlier decision of withdrawing five per cent regulatory duty in December 2020 on the import of cotton yarn and now removal of customs duty will greatly support the textile sector and contribute to the country’s economic stability.

The decision would provide some cushion to the apparel sector, which is suffering a huge shortage of industry raw material, observed Ijaz Khokhar, Chief Coordinator. He asked the government to extend this relaxation of customs duty on yarn import till the country is capable of meeting textile value-added industry’s demand of 10 million cotton bales.

PRGMEA also reiterated its demand to the Prime Minister to pass directives for the forensic audit of the yarn producers to break cartel of cotton mafia. They demanded serious steps to break the textile industry cartel, giving it a strong message that no cartelization would be allowed to manipulate prices in future and if they commit such crime they have to face the full brunt of la