Textile body urges PM to retain export facilitation scheme for yarns, fabrics

The Pakistan Textile Council has urged Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to keep the Export Facilitation Scheme available for all lawful export inputs and to turn down additional exclusions for yarns and fabrics. In a letter, chairman Fawad Anwar argued that removing yarns and fabrics under customs tariff chapters 52 and 55 would damage value-added exports. Business Recorder reported that copies went to the FBR chairman and commerce secretary.

The council recalled that raw cotton, yarn and grey cloth had left the scheme in 2025, and that new demands clashed with an earlier understanding. Citing Textile Exchange's Materials Market Report 2025, it said synthetic fibres supplied 69 percent of all fibres made worldwide in 2024, with cotton at 19 percent. MMF-based goods make up roughly 63 percent of world textile and apparel trade, against about 12 percent for Pakistan's exports. Bangladesh is working toward MMF making up 40 percent of its apparel exports by 2030, up from roughly 24 percent.

The PTC noted that the 2025 exclusions made exporters prepay tax and squeezed liquidity, and warned that more curbs could tie up working capital. It backed strict action against misdeclaration and under-invoicing, suggesting audits and heavier penalties, and proposed reinstating zero-rating for domestic supplies to EFS users rather than levying tax on imported inputs. The council described textiles and apparel as Pakistan's largest export sector, whose growth hinges on access to inputs that overseas markets demand.