In a spinners’ meeting held in Islamabad on Oct. 20, the All Pakistan Textile Manufacturers Association (APTMA) secured a promise from Asif Ali Zardari, the President of Pakistan, that the government will continue to enforce its current free trade policy throughout the entire textile chain, from cotton growers through value-added, finished-product manufacturers.

The Karachi Cotton Association (KCA), also a proponent of free trade, released a statement of appreciation for the decision, outlining its belief that all segments of the cotton value chain benefit from cotton trading, as long as there are no qualitative or quantitative restrictions on its export and import. Cotton growers benefit from free trade, which ensures they receive market value for their product, but so do all other segments of the chain. When farmers profit from growing cotton, KCA says, it makes them more likely to plant cotton again the following year, thus ensuring the supply of raw material to ginners and all segments of the textile chain.

The Textile Ministry has been considering a Textile Act that would empower the Ministry of Textiles to restrict, prohibit and control the entire cotton trade according to Atif Dada, KCA Chairman. “It goes completely against free trade policy of the government, and therefore some sectors may benefit while others may not,” Dada tells Cotton International. “Furthermore, there were appeals in the newspapers by the value-added sector association to ban the export of cotton and yarn. We have strongly opposed the introduction of this act, as well as any other way of intervening in the free trade policy in the textile chain.”