Officials with India’s government say that they are considering shifting the focus of their textile and garment subsidy scheme from exports to overall production. Under World Trade Organization (WTO) guidelines, India will be forced to suspend its export subsidy this year because the country has garnered over 3.25% of the global market for more than

Japan’s apparel industry says it plans to introduce a new label to differentiate domestically-made products from imported goods. The new “J Quality” tag is intended to draw consumer attention to the quality of Japanese-produced goods and will be attached to products that have been woven, dyed, and sewed in Japan from locally-made materials. The move

The government of Nigeria has approved a new policy aimed at reviving the country’s textile and garment industry. As part of the greater National Industry Revolution Plan (NIRP), the new policy would allow companies to upgrade their machinery, reduce energy costs, and implement additional safeguards against counterfeiting and smuggling, all of which have hampered the

Pakistan’s Federal Minister for Textile and Industries says that the draft of the country’s new textile policy will be ready in the next few days to be sent to the Economic Coordination Committee of the Cabinet for consideration. The new policy is expected to emphasize growth in value-added products because they are seen as key

The United Arab Emirates has opted to use the metric system instead of the U.S. customary system for its textile trade. The Emirates Authority for Standardization and Metrology (ESMA) says that the move is aimed at further unifying all measurements across the state, which uses the metric system for most other measurements, and is asking

A federal mediator is stepping in to help move along contract talks between West Coast dockworkers and their employers. The most recent contract expired on July 1 of last year and negotiations have been sluggish ever since with both sides accusing the other of causing delays. West Coast ports, including Los Angeles/Long Beach, San Diego,

Vietnam is looking to export at least US$28 billion in textiles and garments this year, according to industry officials. Last year the country achieved US$24.5 billion in sales, 16% growth over 2013, and hopes to benefit from several pending Free Trade Agreements (FTA) expected to come into effect this year, including the Trans-Pacific Partnership and

Environmental regulators in Bangladesh have fined 4 washing factories for damaging the environment by releasing unrefined liquid waste into a nearby river designated as an environmentally-sensitive area. The 4 factories were closed and sealed earlier this month by regulators who said the facilities were operating without effluent treatment plants.(Bangla News 24)   The Bangladesh Knitwear

Thousands of people, including garment workers and monks, staged a rally on December 10 calling for respect for human rights and the release of a group of jailed land activists. The group of 3,000 demonstrators spoke out against Prime Minister Hun Sen, who they say has been behind numerous crackdowns on protests and has presided

India’s Ministry of Industry and Commerce says that textiles are the country’s top labor-intensive export. During the first half of the current fiscal year, Indian textile exports accounted for over 74% of all labor-intensive exports (about US$22.5 billion total), though that share is lower than in previous years. Ministry officials are using the data to