Exporters face heat over pashmina's identity crisis
eKantipur.com, 9-Oct-07

Lack of proper definition and accreditation has exposed Nepali pashmina to a grave risk of losing leading European and Japanese markets, following which exporters have urged the government to set up an agency at the earliest to define and certify the products.
“We have already had an unpleasant incident in Japan once, and many more countries including Italy and Spain have also mounted pressure on us to come up with a definition and certification for Nepali pashmina to avoid restriction on imports,” said Shankar Pandey, president of the Nepal Pashmina Entrepreneurs Association.

While citing that countries such as Italy and Spain have warned of imposing a ban on the import if a product definition and standard certification is not established by 2008, Pandey said the government must act promptly if it wished to protect the country's third largest export.

Holding a series of meetings with officials of the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies, entrepreneurs have pushed the ministry to set up a mechanism to accredit Nepali products in order to enable them to remain in the European and Japanese markets.

The entrepreneurs have sought the involvement of the Nepal Bureau of Standards and Metrology to define the quality standard of pashmina and issue quality certifications. “The bureau already has a well-equipped laboratory. It only needs to update it. Once that is done, it can carry out the quality testing work with ease,” said Pandey.

The entrepreneurs have also asked the government to set up a separate body to inspect manufacturing units and exports in order to ensure that no other items are exported under the name of pashmina, and that the quality of the product is maintained.

They have demanded that the proposed body be legally empowered to take action against those who use the pashmina categorization to export undefined items or those of lesser quality. “We tried to control such activities through our association, but it lacked the legal grounds to take action against wrongdoers,” said Pandey.

The Nepali pashmina industry received a blow last June when Japan restricted entry of pashmina products demanding definition and standard certification. Other key importing countries such as Italy and Spain had also warned of similar action unless the manufacturers established the pashmina's identity.

Japan is the sixth largest importer of Nepali pashmina. Italy is the third largest buyer among European countries. Volume-wise, the European Union forms the largest market for Nepali pashmina.

Such actions from the leading pashmina importing countries came after unscrupulous exporters started dispatching items manufactured with viscous and polyester yarn and passing them off as pashmina.

In their action, Spain and Italy have already said they would ban pashmina import from 2008 if Nepal failed to define it. Several other European countries have also started demanding standard certifications, according to entrepreneurs.

“While situations like this clearly indicate that the third highest foreign currency earning export is on the verge of doom, the government is still slow in responding to our demands,” said Pandey.