KARACHI, Feb 6: No end seems to be in sight to the tussle between the All-Pakistan Textile Mills Association (Aptma) and the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock (Minfal) on the issue of cotton import from India via Wagha border through train.

For the last more than five years, the government has been allowing duty-free import and export of cotton to give equal opportunities to all players of textile business – growers, ginners, traders and spinners.

Under the Import Policy Order 2006, too, import of cotton is allowed from India.

The Minfal, however, insists on transportation of imported Indian cotton by ship only as it has restricted overland supply by train via Wagha border.

Clustered mainly in the Punjab, spinners prefer importing cotton from India via Wagha to save about Rs240 freight on a maund.

Shipment of cotton involves overland transportation cost from Indian Punjab to Indian sea port and then from Karachi port to Punjab in Pakistan.

“Cotton is our main input and constitutes 70 per cent of production cost,’’ argued Shafqat Elahi, Chairman of Aptma, who said transportation cost from Indian Punjab to Indian sea port, mainly Mumbai, and then from Karachi to Punjab in Pakistan, is unwanted and unbearable.

Why Minfal wants us to financially support Indian transporters? asked the Aptma chairman.

But Minfal is said to be insisting on cotton import from India by ship as it has fumigation arrangements by its plant protection department at the port and not near Wagha.

Under the Plant Protection Rules, said to have been framed in 1967, the Minfal has effectively blocked overland transportation of cotton from India into Pakistan via Wagha border.

“The Aptma is a responsible body of businessmen who have all stakes in Pakistan and substantially in domestic agriculture,’’ contends Shafqat Elahi, pointing out that importers of cotton from India would take all measures to fumigate the merchandise and ensure that no damage is caused to cotton stocked in their mills in Pakistan.

Spinners blame Minfal bureaucracy of patronising rich farmers and ginners who have stocked cotton in a substantial quantity to sell it on the fag-end of the season and in process are actually supporting Indian transporters.

Attempts to seek explanation from the federal food and agricultural minister, Hayat Bosan, and federal agricultural secretary Ismail Qureshi in Islamabad proved futile.

Mr Qureshi did come on telephone line on Tuesday noon, but regretted that he was in a meeting and would explain later.

“It is now the first week of February and growers have sold all their cotton stocks,’’ the Aptma chairman countered the argument that by restricting overland transportation of

cotton, the Minfal wants to help local growers.

His contention was that Aptma supports government policy of protecting farmers’ interests, but those who have cotton stocks now are not “growers but are traders.’’

“It is not government’s job to protect one segment of business at the cost of the other,’’ he said.

Textile sources say the government did allow one consignment of 2,800 bales of cotton via Wagha for once only and has stopped it since then.

Cotton production in Pakistan this season is estimated to range between 12.5 million bales to 13 million bales and spinners intend to import about 2.5 million to three million bales this season.

India has officially adopted the genetically-modified cotton which has enhanced its production manifold, from 15 to 16 million bales to more than 25 million bales.

In Pakistan, the Minfal has remained indecisive on adoption of genetically-modified cotton, but it is being grown unofficially and textile sources estimate at least one million bales of cotton being obtained from illegal BT seeds.“The spinning industry is dependent on import of cotton because of insufficient growth in domestic production over the years to keep pace with increased spinning capacity,’’ the Aptma informed the government in a recent representation.

According to the Aptma, the national spinning sector imported more than two million bales of cotton in 2005-06, 2.24 million bales in 2004-05 and 2.31 million bales in 2003-04.

During last year, Pakistan imported about 222,000 bales from India.

In the last few years, India has emerged as one of the main suppliers of sugar, pulses, vegetables and other edible items to Pakistan as Minfal has miserably failed to ensure adequate growth of value-added crops — vegetables and fruits —, livestock and even fisheries are under tremendous pressure.

“Big landlords in Pakistan neither pay tax on their incomes, nor they pay for the irrigation water,’’ a local textile leader said, who blamed the mighty lobby of landlords for food import bill of more than one billion dollars every year because they do not fully utilise the cultivable land, squander away the bank credits and create problems for industry.