The Ministry of Industries, Mining and Trade has recently announced plans to combat clothes smuggling to enable domestic producers to have a share of the apparel market.
According to a member of the board of directors of Apparel and Textile Producers and Exporters Association, Mehdi Yekta, currently about $5.4 billion worth of clothes are smuggled into the country every year, while only about $3 million are officially imported through legal channels.
Since preventing the entry of contraband clothing through borders has proved ineffective, the new plan by the ministry seeks to curb smuggling elsewhere. New measures have been put in place to confiscate all contraband clothes in the market, especially those offered under the name of famous brands. The sellers will also be fined. Another important measure is that all apparel importers must register with the ministry, otherwise they will not only be fined, but their stores will also be shut down.
The government has pledged to clean the market of all contraband clothes by the end of the Iranian year (March 19, 2016), Eghtesad News quoted head of Iran’s of Chamber of Guilds, Ali Fazeli, as saying. He added that domestic producers will then be able to utilize the new climate’s potential and seize the market.
“If implemented properly, this plan can help the domestic clothing industry get back on its feet,” said a member of the board of directors of Clothing and Textile Producers and Exporters Association, Saeed Hossein-Zadeh. He noted that domestic producers have not been able to use their full capacity so far since the market has been dominated by contraband goods.
“If we clear the market of contraband clothes, the domestic industry can meet up to 70% of the market’s demand, and the rest can be met through legal and properly monitored imports,” Hossein-Zadeh added.
The Ministry of Industries, Mining and Trade has stated many times that combating illegal imports is among its top priorities. As part of the new plan, Industries Minister Mohammad Reza Nematzadeh says his ministry will use the global GS1 coding system as of September 1.
GS1 is an international organization that develops and maintains standards for supply and demand chains across multiple sectors. The standards facilitate identification of items, locations, shipments, assets and associated data.
