Bangladesh’s garment manufacturers and exporters want full exemption from paying value-added tax on different service charges for export-oriented sectors, particularly readymade garment industries. They want a withdrawal of VAT on bills for utility consumption including gas, electricity and water, since the export-oriented readymade garment sector is completely VAT-exempted as per a 1991 act.

Service providers collect VAT at different rates ranging from 1.5 per cent to 15 per cent with service charges. Currently, export-oriented industries enjoy 80 per cent VAT waiver on electricity and gas bills and 60 per cent on water bills. But entrepreneurs have to pay full VAT with bills and later get rebate from the revenue board which is very time-consuming and complex. Factory owners say they have to employ additional manpower for the purpose and have to spend a huge amount of money for receiving the services as part of regular production activities.

Their argument is such exemption on service charges will facilitate the sector to grow and maintain competitiveness in the global market. Bangladesh’s exports of apparel products experienced negative growth in the first few months of this year while its competitors like India, Vietnam and Pakistan posted significant growth. The price of Bangladeshi apparel items went down in the global market while the cost of production increased by almost 18 per cent in the last two years.

Textile Asia will be held in Pakistan from September 16 to 18, 2017. Textile Asia is an international textile and garment machinery show. The exhibition aims to present the potential of textile and garment machinery, accessories, raw material supplies, chemicals and allied services from local and international markets under one roof. More than 50,000 trade and corporate visitors are expected to visit and more than 600 foreign delegates.

This year's theme is the advantages of the China Pakistan economic corridor for the textile industries of both countries. The event will provide an effective platform for collaborations with the textile sector’s small and medium units, most of which have no financial capacity to attend international exhibitions.

Textile Asia attracts businessmen looking for new solutions to bring more efficiency in their production systems. Textile Asia is an ideal platform for generating new business contacts and to establish new alliances and joint ventures. Exhibitors also can launch new products and generate awareness of their innovative services.

Textile Asia is organized by the Pakistan Readymade Garments Manufacturers and Exporters Association in collaboration with Ecommerce Gateway Pakistan, which is the largest trade fair owner and organizer in Pakistan and certified by UFI France for international quality.

La Moda Italiana has sued Versace USA and Gianni Versace in the New York federal court as a preemptive lawsuit in a long term trademark battle between the companies and the Versace 1969 label. Los Angeles-based La Moda Italiana became the licensee for all US marketing and distribution of Versace 1969. It is asking the court to tell Gianni Versace brand its use of Versace is legal and does not infringe on Versace’s well known trademarks.

The Gianni Versace brand has been using its registered Versace mark in fashion since 1978. Versace 1969 has no relation to Gianni Versace. It was started in 2001 by Alessandro Versace who is not related to Gianni or Donatella Versace. Instead, Versace 1969 is distributed by Italy-based In Moda.

The Gianni Versace brand has been making threats and harassment about the use of Versace mark that have interfered with La Moda Italiana's business. Allegedly retail partners including Bluefly.com have pulled Versace 1969 products to avoid being sued.

There already has been a trademark fight between these brands. Last June, Versace USA and Gianni Versace filed a trademark infringement lawsuit in federal court in California. It claimed consumers would be confused between the Versace mark. That case is still pending.

India has reported only a marginal five per cent growth in apparel exports for the April to July 2017 period. Despite significantly higher raw material prices, revenues of fabric manufacturers grew a modest four per cent in the first quarter of 2017-18 pointing towards a steeper fall in sales volumes vis-a-vis production volumes.

The country’s apparel exports are likely to see only a marginal single digit growth this year, due to GST, rupee appreciation against the dollar, rise in raw material prices, increase in labor wages as well as poor global demand.

Global apparel trade has also shown no signs of revival, due to poor demand in key importing countries, which could affect India’s apparel exports. Incidentally, the Indian rupee rose to 64.2 against the dollar from 66.5 last August, which is in contrast to six consecutive years of depreciation.

The apparel and fabric industry has been facing headwinds as a result of temporary disruptions caused by demonetisation and the transition to GST regime. The impact of these developments has been more pronounced on the highly fragmented fabric segment, with fabric production declining by one per cent in the first quarter of 2017-18 following flat production in 2015-16 and a two per cent decline in 2016-17.

India’s cotton yarn exports have declined 9.79 per cent in the April to July period of the current financial year. The main reason was slow pick up from China and Bangladesh, which comprise around 50 per cent of overall shipments from India. Exports to China declined by a staggering 48.58 per cent.

Domestic cotton yarn manufacturers have been reeling under tremendous pressure since demonetisation and GST. The appreciating rupee aggravated the situation. Between April and July, the Indian currency appreciated by over one per cent.

Meanwhile, Chinese textile mills have built a large inventory of cotton and yarn over the past few years amid fears of a sharp increase in prices. Following the price hike, mills there started to use local cotton and yarn, resulting in a sharp decline in their imports not only from India but from other surplus countries.

Chinese traders are more inclined towards imports from Vietnam. Vietnam’s exports to China have zero tariff; imports from India attract a tariff of 3.5 to five per cent. Apart from that, Chinese textile mills have invested in the textile and apparel sector in Vietnam. So they are buying back yarn to China from their own manufacturing units, thereby cutting down imports from other countries including India.

India will probe imports of belting fabrics from China. The charge: China has been dumping belting fabric, a rubberised textile fabric or conveyor belt fabric produced from various industrial yarns. It is normally made of either nylon or polyester or a combination thereof as well as from various industrial yarns like Nylon 6, Nylon 66 and polyester industrial yarn. It is being produced and sold either as grey fabric or as dipped fabric. In case of sale of grey fabric, the consumers may do dipping of the fabric in-house before consumption of the product.

Belting fabric is produced in large combinations of raw material and construction, using different combinations of nylon and polyester yarn of different deniers. The product under consideration is a woven fabric having length wise threads called warp and width wise threads called weft. The product under consideration is reinforcement material for manufacturing of conveyor belts, used prominently in mines and in coal, steel, cement, power and other industries.

The probe has been initiated following a petition filed by SRF. There are other producers whose names have been provided by the petitioner along with their petition. Belting fabric is classified under Chapter 59 of the Customs Tariff Act.

Honduras is aiming to become a textile export leader in the Americas. This will be achieved through a textile hub with world class talent that pushes the frontier of knowledge in sustainable textile development.

The existing textile and apparel industry infrastructure in Honduras has outstanding conditions for investment and expansion opportunities. There are 18 industrial parks that together have a construction area of more than 1.8 million square meters, and advantages like availability of airports, ports, highways, telephones, water and electrical supply, customs paperwork, low working costs, machinery and logistics.

The textile and apparel industry has the capacity of biomass production as well as wastewater management technologies allowing high productivity in a sustainable manner. The current investment in the country’s fabric and clothing manufacturing is estimated to be around $7.8 billion. Focused on corporate social responsibility, manufacturers also promote training initiatives, housing access opportunities, safety and occupational health standards, and also a new pilot project of child care centers. This provides residential areas with security, stability and comfort for textile and garment sector employees and their families.

The country is aiming to be the new destination for textile and apparel investment. It is providing a solid platform of facilities and benefits articulated with the purpose of promoting foreign investment and ventures with outstanding conditions that are strengthened every day.

Cotton Council International, Cotton Incorporated and Supima will jointly exhibit at fabrics trade fair Première Vision, France, September 19 to 21, 2017. At one cotton pavilion they will showcase innovations in cotton technologies, fabric blends, and performance, design and fashion applications that will inspire brands with new ideas for cotton and cotton blended fabrics, such as US cotton garments that help one feel better faster after a workout, sweat-resistant tees and denim that keeps one cool on hot days.

The objective is to inspire everyone in the textile business to think about the many opportunities in US cotton. Cotton USA also invites visitors to its booth to learn about its collaboration with worldwide brands and retailers, how to license the Cotton USA mark, the US cotton industry’s sustainability efforts, global cotton market developments, findings of current market and consumer studies, and ongoing sourcing programs that match cotton buyers and suppliers.

Cotton USA is dedicated to providing the entire supply chain with networking opportunities, ongoing education, and the latest research and technological innovations. Luxury, quality and craftsmanship are the benchmarks of American-grown, extra-long staple Supima cotton. Supima is twice as strong as regular cotton, which makes for extraordinarily resilient products. The longer fiber resists pulling, breaking and tearing resulting in fashion and home products that are incredibly resilient and keep their form for a longer-lasting product.

The antimicrobial textile market is projected to grow at a CAGR of 7.4 per cent from 2016 to 2026. Growth is primarily led by the need for hygiene products to combat increasing number of infections due to microorganisms, increasing end-use applications such as medical textiles and apparel, technological advances, and the high demand in the Asia-Pacific region.

The antimicrobial textile market is on the basis of application into commercial, apparel, home, medical, and other wearables. Among these, the medical segment is projected to grow at the fastest rate over the forecast period as a result of rising risk of diseases due to hospital acquired infections and the need to prevent transmission of infections.

Rising demand for antimicrobial textiles is driving the market in Asia-Pacific region. The market is driven by increased demand from China and India. China is the largest market in the region. Rapid industrialisation, changing lifestyles, rising disposable incomes, and the expansion in the healthcare as well as technical textile industries is expected to drive the antimicrobial textiles market in the region.

Some of the key players are: Sanitized, Microban, Sciessent, Milliken Chemical, Dow Chemical Company, Lonza Group, Trevira and Vestagen Protective Technologies.

More speakers have been confirmed for the Textile 4.0 Conference. The conference, organised by World Textile Information Network (WTiN), will take place at the Hotel Novotel Amsterdam City, The Netherlands, on October 25-26, 2017. The eventis the first to explore the realities of Industry 4.0 in textiles industry. Over two days, industry experts will share their ideas on the opportunities and services that can be leveraged using the Internet of Things (IoT) and on best practices to enable smart manufacturing.

In the session from dumb product to 'technology as a service', Steve Smith, of DP Innovations, will reveal how IoT developments are enabling suppliers of manufacturing technology to move beyond the delivery of standalone products and offer an increasing range of value-added services.

Yves-Simon Gloy, of RWTH Aachen, will contribute to the session Automation and the workforce, which will focus on which skills will be in demand and what kind of jobs will be under threat as the textile industry adopts Industry 4.0 principles.

Yariv Bustan, of Twine Solutions, and Michel Byvoet, of Bivolino, will present in the session Turning disruption into innovation: emerging business models. This session will discuss enterprise opportunities in customisation and manufacture-on-demand.

The Textile 4.0 Conference is the professional event dedicated to the realities of Industry 4.0 in the textiles industry. It aims to shed light on the many developments that are happening even now and provide expert insights into what the future might hold for business and investment decision makers throughout the textiles value chain.