Official reveals 200k tons of apparel smuggled into country annually

The Director General of Textile and Clothing Office of the Ministry of Industry, Mine and Trade Afsaneh Mehrabi said that 200,000 tons of clothing and apparel are smuggled into the country per annum.

Of total 510,000 tons of annual need of country to clothing, about 310,000 tons of domestic demand to clothing is met inside the country while the rest i.e. 200,000 tons are smuggled into the country.

Most economic enterprises in the country are facing financial problems critically, she said, adding: “moreover training manpower, reducing costs, increasing productivity and using high-quality raw materials, clothing and garment industry of the country will be in dire need of installing most modern equipment and machinery in order to compete with similar foreign producers.”

Mehrabi pointed to the high volume of smuggling apparel and clothing into the country and added, “dealing with smuggling goods requires a national determination which is possible with the cooperation of responsible organizations.”

She called on concerned institutions and bodies to cooperate with the ministry in order to deal with smuggling goods seriously.

Unofficial import of apparel and clothing into the country and lack of payment of pertinent duties are major concerns of domestic producers, she maintained.

She put the total export volume of clothing and apparel in the nine months of the current Iranian calendar year in 1396 (from March 21 to Dec. 23) at $710 million, showing a considerable growth as compared to the last year’s corresponding period.

In conclusion, the director general called on responsible officials to reduce interest rate for relevant producers, so that interest rate exceeding 8 to 9 percent is not economically justified.