Chief Minister M K Stalin urged Union Textiles Piyush Goel to give the necessary instructions to the officials in the Ministries of Textiles and Chemicals and Fertilisers to insist on the Quality Control Orders (QCO) for importing viscose and polyester fibre only after the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) resolved all pending applications filed by the importers seeking BIS certification to comply with QCOs.
In a letter to Goel on Saturday, Stalin requested the Union Minister’s assistance in the matter affecting the textile industry and also requested that the Government exempt filament yarn and artificial fibres, including bamboo fibres not made in India from QCO.
The Ministry’s QCO certificates He said that the of Textiles relating viscose staple fibre was first only granted for one month before being extended by another two months to take effect on March 29, 2023. Similar to this, the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilisers had put the Polyester Stable Fibre QCO into force on April 3, 2023. He indicated that starting on July 3, 2023, QCOs would apply to 100% polyester spun grey and white yarn, 100% polyester fully drawn yarn (FDY), and 100% polyester partially oriented yarn (POY).
As you are aware, orders are placed to purchase raw materials in accordance with the over six-month planning of fashion cycles. Therefore, these deadlines for implementation could impede a number of ongoing processes. Additionally, advancements in polyester and viscose yarn Continuous research and development makes it possible to create novel, sustainable fibres with distinctive properties. Such fibres might preclude the application of general QCOs. Although there is a BIS standard for standard viscose fibre, there isn’t one specifically for bamboo viscose fibre, which is highly sought after in the export market due to its anti-bacterial and anti-microbial properties. said Stalin.
The sector had also stated that a large number of applications from international suppliers were still awaiting examination and clearance by BIS, which could only happen after BIS officials visited the applicants’ production sites in their home nations. Even if these providers met the QCO’s standards, the importation of these fibres could only go place until the BIS authorities finished all the procedures, and the applications were approved.
Many textile fabric and apparel manufacturers who have placed orders for these fibres and whose shipment is currently in transit will probably sustain significant financial losses as a result, according to the situation. The domestic producers of value-added goods would be forced to make quality compromises and eventually lose business, he claimed, if the importation of the necessary quality fibres was delayed.
He added that it was important to note that for MSME units, which dominated the textile sector, developing testing infrastructure to achieve BIS certification was expensive and not practical in order to protect the interests of the business.
