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Participating businesses introduce the event’s visitors to advanced technologies, the latest machinery, high-end equipment, and materials in the garment and textile industry. They are scheduled to join experts for a discussion on new trends in the world garment and textile industry, and to analyse the opportunities and challenges facing the industry in Vietnam in the context of the integration process and an era of rapid technological progress. The four-day event will also feature fashion collections by designers from the Vietnam Fashion Design Institute (FADIN). The annual event, jointly organised by the Vietnam National Textile-Garment Group (VINATEX), the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and the Hong Kong-based CP Exhibition Ltd., is the only textile and garment expo approved by UFI – the Global Association of the Exhibition Industry. It aims to provide a platform for Vietnamese garment and textile businesses to advertise their products, share experiences with foreign colleagues, and seek new trade deals.
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Punjab secretary agriculture Muhammad Mahmud said on Wednesday that preparations were afoot in line with Cotton Mission 2025 to achieve the milestone of 20 million bales production of cotton in Punjab by 2025 “Cotton Mission is a road map to take cotton to its due status in Punjab,” Mahmud said in a statement issued by media liaison unit of Punjab agriculture department. A marathon process of consultations with all the stakeholders would be initiated to get their opinions and suggestions for development of cotton. Mahmud said that scientists have been assigned the task to conduct research on high yielding seed technology and other aspects to revive cotton’s higher productivity.
The Punjab secretary agriculture said that the on-going seed sowing campaign that began on April 1 would be completed by May 31 at all cost. He said that the provincial government was working with those engaged with the whole supply chain of cotton under long and mid-term planning. He disclosed that a cotton council was being formed that would comprise representatives from government, farmers, APTMA, PCGA and other representatives from private sector. He said that PB-Ropes had proved beneficial for farmers last season in tackling pink bollworm and asked the federal plant protection department to allow private sector import PB-Ropes. He said that field formations of agriculture department have been instructed to launch a two-week long campaign against pink bollworm immediately pleading that an effective control on the initial stage would benefit farmers not only this season but also the next cotton season.
The Vietnam Textile and Garment Industry Expo – SaigonTex 2018, the biggest and most influential event of the textile and garment industry of Vietnam, opened in Ho Chi Minh City on April 11. The event is organised by the Vietnam National Garment and Textile Group (Vinatex), the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Hongkong-based CP Exhibition company. It is Vietnam’s sole textile and garment industry expo meeting UFI standard of the Global Association of the Exhibitor Industry. This year, SaigonTex attracts the participation of more than 900 firms from 27 countries and territories across the world, including Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong (China), India and Indonesia. Many leading experts are expected to attend the event to suggest measures to address the sector’s challenges. Many advanced textile equipment machinery and spare parts as well as new materials are introduced at the event. It also offers opportunities for domestic and international firms to meet and promote their brands, as well as seek new customers and expand markets. Numerous fashion collections of famous Vietnamese designers are also on display.
President of the Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association Vu Duc Giang said SaigonTex 2018 is hoped to not only enable participants to explore new garment-textile equipment, but also bolster investment in the field.
The event runs until April 14 at the Saigon Exhibition and Convention Centre.-VNA
A court ruled on Wednesday that Monsanto
NEW DELHI: Some states have asked their tax departments to step up vigilance on electronic way bills to clamp down on evasion, according to people with knowledge of the matter, raising the prospect of increased roadside inspections of trucks. The move comes as states such as Maharashtra have seen lower-than-expected generation of e-way bills by transporters, which the authorities fear could be a sign of evasion.
Maharashtra has issued instructions that tax authorities should start taking strict action against those found to be transporting goods without e-way bills.
Maharashtra generated 100,938 bills compared with Gujarat’s 175,851 on March 3 though it had 2,669 enrolments against Gujarat’s 1,980.
“There is an apprehension that transporters or businesses are not generating e-way bills,” said a government official.
An e-way bill is required for movement of goods worth more than Rs 50,000 across state borders. Eway bill trials began on January 16 and the system was formally implemented on April 1. E-way bills for intra-state transport, which involve movement of goods beyond 10 km, will start on April 15 in Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Kerala, Telangana and Uttar Pradesh, the government said on Tuesday.
Trucks caught without e-way bills can be levied a penalty of up to Rs 10,000 besides which the cargo can be inspected to ascertain tax evasion.
A penalty to the tune of 100% of the tax being evaded can be levied along with the tax itself. Both the vehicle and the goods can be impounded as well.
The e-way bill mechanism is an integral part of the goods and services tax (GST) regime that’s aimed at plugging evasion.
Evasion was one of the reasons cited by the government for the fall in GST revenue in the past few months.
GST collections hit a high of Rs 95,132 crore in October before declining to Rs 85,931 crore in December 2017.
They have since recovered to Rs 89,264 in February but are still below the peak.
Tax experts said businesses need to ensure that they don’t slip up on e-way bill generation through error or ignorance of the law.
“Businesses may face more scrutiny going forward as clearly there seems to be an apprehension based on the data that many dispatches are being made without generation of eway bills,” said Anita Rastogi, partner, GST and indirect tax, at PwC. “They need to put focus on this area.
Textile mills in south India, which are facing a high rate of attrition, plan to conduct a job fair at Agartala on April 25-26 to recruit workers directly. About 2,500 textile mills in the south employ close to 7 lakh workers, of which more than 60% are migrants. Southern India Mills’ Association chairman P. Nataraj said the association recently conducted a study on the challenges mills faced in employing these workers. A migrant worker stays at a unit for just 7-9 months and leaves. This affects almost 30% of the production, he said.
These is no process to verify the profile of the workers and the mills are unable to find out if a worker who goes home will return to work or not. The migrants need to be trained not only in work but also in workplace systems. Hence, it was decided to conduct job melas (fairs) in different States where the mills can recruit directly, he said.
The association had written to various States and the Tripura Government responded immediately. Seven textile mills would take part in the fair with an aim to recruit about 4,000 workers. “This is on a trial basis and the candidates can join work immediately. There are several schemes of the Central government under which the mills will train the workers for three months and then induct them as operators,” Mr. Nataraj said. The State government has extended support for the initiative. It will identify eligible candidates village-wise and verify their details. Just a group of villages are taking part in the job mela initially
PUNE: Cotton Association of India has released its March estimate of the 2017-18 crop year beginning from 1st October 2017-18. In this latest estimate, the CAI has estimated cotton crop for the ongoing 2017-18 season at 360 lakh bales of 170 kgs. each, which is lower by 2 lakh bales – one lakh bales each in the states of Maharashtra and Karnataka than its previous estimate of 362 lakh bales made in the month of March 2018.
The projected Balance Sheet drawn by the CAI has estimated total cotton supply for the season at 410 lakh bales of 170 kgs. each which includes the opening stock of 30 lakh bales at the beginning of the season and the imports which the CAI has retained at 20 lakh bales as in the previous month.
The CAI has estimated domestic consumption at 324 lakh bales while the exports for the Season are estimated at 65 lakh bales which is higher by 5 lakh bales than the CAI’s estimate of the previous month as the country is now witnessing a good export demand. The carry-over stock at the end of 2017-18 season is estimated by the Association at 21 lakh bales, which is lower by 1 lakh bales of 170 kgs. each. than the CAI ‘s earlier estimate made in the last month. The CAI estimates the cotton arrivals upto 31st March 2018 at 287 lakh bales as per the data received by it from upcountry associations and various other trade sources.
India seems to be gaining from the ongoing trade war between the United States and China. According to the Economic Times, the country has exported 1.5 lakh bales of cotton to the latter since the trade war between the two countries broke out.
“We have contracted between 1.5 lakh bales to 2 lakh bales of exports to China during past 10 days,” said President of Cotton Association of India Atul Ganatra.
China is heavily dependent on Cotton imports from the US. However, after the trade war broke out, China has reportedly imposed tariffs on import of cotton from the US. Cotton is one of the 106 American goods on which China has imposed tariffs of up to 25 per cent. China, the largest consumer of cotton, is the second-largest buyer of American cotton with one out of every five bales headed there.
“I cannot overstate the importance of China’s market to U.S. cotton farmers and the importance of U.S. cotton in meeting the needs of China’s textile industry,” said Chairman of the US National Cotton Council Ron Craft.
With tariffs on the import of cotton from the US, Chinese manufacturers who need the raw material in large quantities are likely to shift increasingly to India. The fact that Indian cotton prices are 10 cents cheaper at 80 cents per pound compared to the global price on the Intercontinental Exchange will also be helpful.
Another advantage that India enjoys is low freight charges. This is because ships that call at ports in Gujarat with Chinese goods tend to carry Indian exports at a lower freight cost than to return empty and incur losses. However, Chinese importers will have to make do with smaller vessels unlike bulk shipment from the US.
Of the total export of 55 lakh bales since the beginning of the Cotton Year 2017-28 on 1 October last year, India has exported about 6 lakh bales of cotton to China. India, which is the world’s second-biggest cotton exporter, is hoping to treble shipments to China, Reuters reported. Cotton exports may touch 7 million bales.
Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Kerala, Telangana and Uttar Pradesh will make GST e-way bills compulsory for movement of goods within their boundaries
Generating e-way bills will be compulsory for transporting goods locally in five more states starting 15 April as the nation gradually extends the scope of electronic permits mandated for goods shipments across state borders from the beginning of the month.
A statement from the finance ministry said that Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Kerala, Telangana and Uttar Pradesh will make e-way bills compulsory for movement of goods within their boundaries. Karnataka had implemented it for local movement of goods when the e-way bill requirement was implemented from 1 April nationwide for inter-state shipments.
The idea of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council is to gradually have the same electronic permit for all shipments of goods within the country above a value of Rs50,000, including local transportation beyond 50km. By 1 June, the council expects all states to adopt e-way bills for local movement of goods as well.
The statement said that till 9 April, more than six million e-way bills had been generated.
“With the roll-out of e-way bill system in these States, it is expected that trade and industry will be further facilitated insofar as the transport of goods is concerned, eventually paving the way for a nation-wide single e-Way Bill system,” said the statement. Businesses have to register in the e-way bill portal to generate the document.
E-way bill system is one of the anti-evasion features of the new indirect tax system that is expected to prevent manipulation of the value of goods transported. It is also expected to integrate cash-driven informal transactions into the formal economy. Policy makers expect e-way bills will boost GST revenue, which has been stagnating for the last three months. In March, GST revenue stood at Rs85,174 crore, slightly lower than the receipts in the previous month.
Experts said the government is encouraged by the fact that the e-way bill system worked for inter-state shipments since the beginning of the month. “The strategy of introduction of e-way bill in phases and testing the load capacity of the e-way bill portal gradually has worked well for the government,” said Abhishek Jain, indirect tax partner at EY.
Archit Gupta, founder and chief executive officer of Cleartax, a tax payer services firm, said that barring a few exceptions, the experience of the e-way bill portal has been smooth so far. “The government has succeeded in offering a stable infrastructure and we hope the same will be replicated with the intra-state roll out. This staggered roll out for a few states at a time will help balance the load.”
Peru ranked third amongst export destinations for India in the Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) region during 2015-16
Senior officials of India and Peru will hold next round of negotiations for a proposed free trade agreement (FTA) in the South American nation this week to boost two-way commerce between the countries.
“Officials from commerce ministry are there in Peru for the second round of negotiations for the pact,” a government official said.
In an FTA, two countries significantly reduce or eliminate duties on most of the goods traded between them besides relaxing norms and rules to promote trade in services and increase bilateral investments.
With growing uncertainties in its traditional markets, including the US and Europe, India is looking to enhance its engagements with regions like Africa, South America and Central Asia. Exporters body Federation of India Export Organisations (FIEO) said that Peru holds huge potential for exports.
“The FTA would help boost our exports. India should look at South American market aggressively as Peru is also a member of MERCOSUR (a six country trade bloc with Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay as its members),” FIEO director general Ajay Sahai said.
He said that India should also look at increasing investments in these regions. Peru ranked third amongst export destinations for India in the Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) region during 2015-16.
The bilateral trade between the nations increased to $1.77 billion in 2016-17 from $1.52 billion in the previous fiscal.
Among the top ten commodities of India’s export to Peru are motor vehicle, cars, products of iron and steel, cotton yarn and fabrics. While the imports include bulk minerals and ores, gold, fertilisers crude and zinc.
