TEHRAN (Iran News) – Head of Research Center of Tehran Union of garment Manufacturers and Sellers, emphasizing ease in business condition, said dumping and preferential tariff are two major factors for easing garment imports from Turkey.

Mansour Tirgar criticized lack of precise statistics regarding imports and production of garments and said that unfortunately national laws and regulations are not aligned with the statistical transparency.

He went on to say that currently, in production of tricot fabric, socks and production of pullover and jean trousers, the country faces with consumer surplus but in the field of children’s and women’s clothing production, the county is weak and it lacks enough standards for production in this field while preferential tax for imports of Turkish garments has caused the final cost of Turkish exports to Iran to become very lower.

Tirgar then pointed to Turkey’s dumping in the garment market and said that in the past, the final cost of Turkish garments ended very expensive but in recent years their garments have become cheaper than even jeans while preferential tariff helped Iran for logical imports from Turkey.

Pointing to the directives for imports of garments, he said that before announcement of the directives, major part of garment imports from Turkey was done via smuggling but now brand producers export garments to Iran legally.

Meanwhile an expert and specialist in designing and branding of garments, Ms. Negin Salehi, said that preventing imports has led to sluggishness, lag of producer from technics and competitive tools in world market, and lack of competition and reinforcement of domestic designers and producers, adding that if imports are done legally, consumer with his right of choice will help peace in the market, and by the way domestic producers will try hard to manage the competition market through producing high quality and fashioned products.

Ms. Salehi added that with using capacities of designers of Iranian, regional and local garments can bring opportunity for producers, consumers and even sellers of garments in any country. She noted that the union is to form an international association of experts and designers of garments of Islamic countries to create a good opportunity for creating competitive markets in the global levels, and also with entrepreneurship of experts in field of designing garments in the world level, it canhelp more presence of companies and producers of garments in other countries.

Meanwhile Mr. Majid Eftekhari, a member of Tehran Union of garment Manufacturers and Sellers, said that the statistics regarding the apparel smuggling is day in day increasing but officials announce the figure as having downward trend.