India signed the India–New Zealand Free Trade Agreement on ** April **** at Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi, eliminating tariffs on *** per cent of New Zealand’s *,*** tariff lines from Day * of entry into force. For Indian textile and apparel exporters, the deal resolves a structural anomaly: until this week, India was the only major textile supplier still paying MFN duty in New Zealand, while China (NZ–China FTA, ****), Bangladesh (LDC scheme), Vietnam and Indonesia (CPTPP and RCEP) all entered duty-free. Concluded in a record nine months after Prime Ministers Modi and Luxon launched negotiations in March ****, the pact is India’s seventh FTA in three and a half years, anchoring a textile-trade diversification strategy targeting USD *** billion in exports by ****.

TexPro trade intelligence reveals a highly asymmetric and complementary bilateral flow. India exports a diversified $*** million textile basket to New Zealand, while importing nearly $** million, of which **.* per cent is raw wool (HS **). This is not competition; it is a fibre-to-finished-goods value chain waiting to be formalised.

The World Trade Organisation (WTO) is implementing an initiative to strengthen use of the ePing platform on sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) and technical barriers to trade (TBT), helping governments, exporters and other stakeholders better track and engage in evolving product requirements affecting international trade.

The free, global platform ePing was by the WTO, the International Trade Centre (ITC) and the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA). It helps address this challenge.

The WTO is implementing a project to strengthen use of the ePing platform on sanitary and phytosanitary and technical barriers to trade, helping governments and stakeholders better track and engage in evolving product requirements affecting international trade.
The project focuses on Kenya, Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania and Uganda, and aims at enhancing transparency, predictability and market access.

It allows users to follow notified draft SPS and TBT measures in real time, receive tailored email alerts, and engage with regulators before new requirements enter into force.

Funded by the Standards and Trade Development Facility (STDF), the three-year project focuses on five African countries—Kenya, Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania and Uganda—and aims at enhancing transparency, predictability and market access.

The project brings together governments, the private sector and international partners to improve how regulatory information is shared, accessed and used in sectors affected by SPS measures and TBT, an official release said.

Workshops are being planned in these five countries to strengthen practical use of ePing among regulators, enquiry points, exporters, trade associations and other stakeholders who rely on timely regulatory information to access markets.

The urgency of strengthening ePing use is underscored by growing volumes of regulatory activity, the WTO added.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)

The Suez Canal Economic Zone (SCZONE) recently signed a $16.5-million agreement with Turkish company ELA Tekstil to set up a readymade garment (RMG) and denim factory in the Qantara West Industrial Zone.

The project, expected to create around 2,500 direct jobs, will produce nearly 7 million pieces of RMG and denim products annually, with four-fifths of output meant for exports.

The Suez Canal Economic Zone has signed a $16.5-million pact with Turkish firm ELA Tekstil to set up a RMG and denim factory in the Qantara West Industrial Zone.
The project, expected to create around 2,500 direct jobs, will produce nearly 7 million pieces of RMG and denim products annually, with four-fifths of output meant for exports.
This project brings the total number of projects in the Zone to 42.

SCZONE chairman Waleid Gamal El-Dein said this agreement reflects the success of the authority’s efforts in attracting specialised industrial investment at Qantara West, according to domestic media reports.

This project brings the total number of projects in the Qantara West Industrial Zone to 42, with a total investment of around $1.14 billion in this sector.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)