Employees of the spinning sub-sector of the textile industry urged the Bangladesh Textile Mills Association (BTMA) to withdraw its decision to shut down factories from February 01.
They also called for the immediate implementation of the commerce ministry's suggestion to keep imports of 10 to 30 count cotton yarn outside the bonded facility.
The employees further pressed for the formation of a joint commission with representatives from the government, BTMA, Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) and Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA) to resolve the ongoing crisis over yarn import.
Azhar Ali, chief operating officer of Salma Group, made the demands at a press conference held at a city hotel on Wednesday.
Enamul Haque, director (operations) of Mosharaf Group, ABM Sirajul Islam, director of Jamuna Group, and Ruhul Amin Ashik, executive director of Getco Group, among others, spoke at the conference.
Expressing concern, they said if all textile mills shut down from February 01, some 0.2 million employees and around 0.8 million workers would lose their jobs that would severely affect the economy and create anarchy nationwide.
They alleged that the primary textile mills-the backward linkage industry of the garment sector-have been suffering in absence of required policy supports, a long-term plan and overdependence on bonded facility. They demanded a 10 per cent incentive for two years to help the spinning mills remain competitive with neighbouring countries.
They also opined that free-of-cost (FOC) facility should not be more than 20 per cent which is at present 50 per cent and added that excessive use of the facility could destroy the textile mill sector.
Earlier on January 12, following a demand from BTMA, the commerce ministry asked the National Board of Revenue to withdraw bonded warehouse facilities for importing yarn with counts ranging from 10 to 30, in a move aimed at protecting domestic textile millers.
This sparked a strong opposition from apparel sector trade bodies-BGMEA and BKMEA-with the allegation that the Tariff Commission's such recommendation was made without any consultation with the major stakeholders.
BGMEA and BKMEA argued that such a move would primarily affect garment exporters and could undermine the competitiveness of Bangladesh's apparel industry saying buyers might shift to other sourcing destinations as the exclusion of the bonded facilities will increase production costs.
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