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P Sreevalsan Menon
October 18: High tariffs on wool imports still remain a major impediment to the growth of wool industry in India, New Zealand's minister for international trade and associate minister of finance, Hon Lockwood Smith said.
In an interview with The Financial Express, the minister said, "Most countries have abolished or reduced import tariffs. New Zealand, a major exporter of wool to India, which consumes little over 31 million kgs every year, has decided to remove all tariffs by 2006." At present there is a 25 per cent duty on finer wool and 15 per cent on wools above 32 microns. But India needs to import larger quantities of good quality and "here, the high tariff acts as a constraint."
The carpet industry is a major consumer of imported wool. Though the country produces 35 million kgs annually, only 16 million kgs are found suitable for making carpets.
"The need of the hour is to develop more good quality wool and integrate the carpet industry under modern management and marketing practices," says RKKhanna of Indian Woollen Mills' Association.
The exports of hand-knotted carpets from India were to the tune of Rs 1,600 crore in 1997-98, and can double by the turn of the century. "The animal husbandry projects in India also need to develop on a greater scale and the Kiwis can help the country in this regard," Smith said.
New Zealand envisages a greater role for it in the development of the Indian agriculture sector. The Kiwis believe their world class expertise in post-harvest operations, technology and skills in agriculture can be of tremendous help to India.
Smith said his country is keen on sharing its huge success in the farm sector through technology transfers with India. The trade between New Zealand and India has been booming over the past few years. India imports a host of agri products from New Zealand and in turn, exports textiles, diamonds, yarn and tea.
Lockwood Smith identified wool, agro-products, dairy products and forest products as areas having greater growth potential for tradebetween the two countries.
New Zealand is the second largest producer of wool in the world. Last year, its exports were worth NZ $14 million. "Our production of fine wool is relatively small but we dominate globally in strong crossbred wool," he said. India has always been a strong market for New Zealand wool. About 14 million kgs of wool is consumed by Indian apparel and carpet sector. "We are targeting this segment with the cooperation of wool growers in New Zealand. Wools of New Zealand, a leading Kiwis trading firm, will be in India with a host of services for spinners, knitters and weavers here," he said.
Lockwood Smith, however, was quick to point out that the high import tariffs imposed on wool by India would lead to inefficiencies. He also sought the elimination of export subsidies and delinking of domestic support from production in the agriculture sector.
New Zealand Wool Group will spearhead an India-New Zealand partnership programme. "As much as India needs our fibre, we require yourexpertise and efficiency in delivering quality textiles at a competitive prices," Lockwood Smith said. The areas New Zealand specially interested in India include forestry products.
"We can meet your needs for logs, wood pulp and newsprint. In fact we are talking to the Indian government on the exports of these items," he said."We also plan to export the Kiwi fruit and New Zealand apples, which are crisp and known for their taste. Our apple seasons are different from that of India. So we intend to distribute Indian apples in the international markets when we are not doing ours," he said.
The minister said his country also intends to supply the root stocks of apples to Indian farmers through partnership programmes.
According to the minister, Maharashtra government has shown keen interest in New Zealand's post harvest and agro-processing equipment and technologies.Dairy exports is another area of tremendous growth, he said adding exports have grown by NZ$ 12 million during the last 12 months. Butterconsists a bulk of these.
"We can offer India the latest technology in dairy development and processing," he said.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
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This story was printed from Net Express located at http://www.expressindia.com. Net Express provides a portal to India, with news from The Indian Express and The Financial Express along with sites on travel and tourism, the entertainment industry, the power sector, the environment and much more.
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