ICTSD informed that the Turkish proposal to effectively carve textiles and clothing out of the general tariff reduction formula for industrial goods in the Doha Round has provoked angry opposition from several major textile exporters such as China and Pakistan, and surprise from WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy.
[30/03/06-fiber2fashion.com]

Australian Wool Innovation Limited (AWI) announces that the Merino wool producers have every reason to be positive, according to Western District farm business consultant Dr Graham Lean. Speaking to producers at Australian Wool Innovation (AWI) ‘Pathways to Profit’ forum in Hamilton, Victoria, Dr Lean said that wool enterprises had been competitive with most farm enterprises in the past five years despite low prices.
[30/03/06-fiber2fashion.com]

Gujarat Government announced changes in tax rates of various commodities, providing exemptions to different commodities which include textiles, tobacco, sugar, diamond and indigenous seeds from Value Added Tax (Vat). Saurabh Dalal, State Finance Minister said, that giving due consideration to representations by industries and traders, Government took decisions to solve difficulties faced by traders.
[30/03/06-fiber2fashion.com]

The Republic of Turkey's Minister of State Kursad Tuzmen and CEOs from the US textile industry will appear at a press conference to discuss Turkey's proposal for a separate sectoral for textiles and clothing in the ongoing WTO Doha Development Round's Non-Agricultural Market Access (NAMA) negotiations. The Republic of Turkey formally submitted a paper proposing a separate sectoral for textile and clothing products at a special meeting in Geneva, Switzerland on March 23.
[29/03/06-fiber2fashion.com]

Increasing cotton imports have affected Chinese cotton growers as they suffered a loss of 18 billion yuan (about US $2.25 billion) over the last few years. During this period, the country imported 4 million tons of cotton. According to industry experts, from around 100 million growers, each of them earned 200 yuan less per year.
[30/03/06-fiber2fashion.com]

The government cut value-added tax on textile products by 10%. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced today at party group meeting that the cut from 18% to 8% was necessary to protect Turkish textiles manufacturers from a flood of cheap Far Eastern products in global markets.
[07/03/06-Dünya Gazetesi]