Textile Development and Promotion Bill: draft to be circulated to all stakeholders

The Textile Ministry is likely to circulate the draft of ''Textile Development and Promotion Bill'' among stakeholders for public debate from next week, Business Recorder has learnt. After discussing the proposed bill with all stakeholders, the draft will be tabled in parliament for approval, sources close to Textile Minister said.
The Ministry has chalked out a program of meetings with stakeholders in Karachi, Hyderabad, Lahore, Faisalabad and Multan. Salient features of the draft will be discussed, and viable recommendations of the stakeholders will be made part of the bill, sources said.
Giving out salient features of the draft bill, sources said that a board of textile industries, including members from the Textile Ministry, would be constituted under the new bill. The board will arrange regular interaction between the industry and policy makers to ensure development and promotion of the textile industry. Similarly, technical experts will also be made a part of the board. The board will be authorised to establish standards for the textile industry and products, sources added.
Under the proposed textile law, all textile units functioning in the country would get themselves registered with the Ministry of Textile Industry, as only the registered textile units would be eligible for incentives of any government scheme.
Sources said that at present there is no textile export/import law in the country. In the proposed textile bill, rules would be laid down and growth of the industry would be monitored. For implementation of the Textile Policy 2009-14 and to ensure accurate statistics of production capacity, exports and total number of textile units in the country will also be collected under the proposed law.
Sources said that the Ministry lacks complete information about the textile units and data of their production capacity to make appropriate plans regarding the implementation of the new textile policy. The new legislation aims at implementing the textile policy, and strengthening the structure of textile industry through accurate data on all aspects.