March 22, 2006	Wednesday	Safar 21, 1427

ISLAMABAD, March 21: The European Union Council of Ministers will formally approve the proposed reduction in the anti-dumping duty on Pakistan’s bedlinen next month. Addressing a press conference here on Tuesday Commerce Minister Humayun Akhtar Khan said the lower rates were expected to be enforced by April and would be published in the EU’s official journal.

The cumulative duty on Pakistan’s bedlinen in EU would now be scaled down to 15.4 per cent (5.8 per cent anti-dumping duty + 9.6 per cent normal duty) as compared to 25.1 per cent in 2005. This would certainly boost our exports of bedlinen to the EU, thereby creating economic activity with ancillary benefits in the country, the minister added.

Answering a question, the minister said that China and India were our main competitors in the EU market.

The EU has also imposed 6.6 per cent countervailing duty on bedlinen import from India. With this the Indian exports of bedlinen to EU attract 16.2 per cent duty, which is a bit higher than Pakistan.

The minister said that the country’s exports during July-February 2005-06 were $10.6 billion which reflected an increase of 19.7 per cent over the corresponding period of 2004-2005.

He said that these were the best export figures for eight-month period in the history of Pakistan. “The 20 per cent increase is higher than the 18 per cent growth target set for the year 2005-2006,” he added.

Mr Khan said that it was expected that Pakistan would not only achieve its export target of $17 billion, but was likely to exceed it as exports had been proportionately higher in the last quarter of the financial year.

He said the encouraging performance in exports was despite the decline in the prices of textiles and clothing as a result of intensified price competition in the international market.

Replying a query, the minister said that Pakistani exporters were able to substantially benefit in the post-textile quota era.