Chancellor Alistair Darling has warned that employment across UK will continue to rise for some time to come, breaking from the usual tradition of chancellors sounding upbeat chimes even when the times are tough and refraining from revealing a fall in the employment sector. Chancellor Darling was yesterday quoted as informing the MPs that "although unemployment in this country is too high... unfortunately it will continue to rise for a while", also stressing that "the unemployment levels... are

23 December 2009 - Washington will start next year discussing a vast free-trade zone with a series of Asian and Pacific nations, including Vietnam. For US apparel importers, this is an opportunity to call for a radical reform of US textile rules of origin with substantial transformation replacing the yarn-forward provision. Cumulation of origin between Asian and American countries would also allow to develop the "full packaged" production, provided the dream would one day become true. Sou

Boxing day sales are being given a big push by retailers to improve Christmas trade as they try to make up for the losses suffered during the last holiday season. Clothing retailer Gap has launched50 per cent rebates and so have big fashion stores like French Connection, Hobbs, John Lewis, Comet, B&Q and Halfords. These retailers have said that discount sales will begin on Christmas eve as they aim to target around 4 million Britons expected to spend around 120 million pounds on Christ

During the investigations, thousands of documents, such as certificates of origin, bills of lading, customs export documents, delivery receipts and invoices presented to customs in EU Member States and to the competent Bangladesh authorities, the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB), were found to be forged by third parties. The fraudsters aimed to evade EU import duties on textile consignments originating in the far-east, mainly in the PR of China. Forged or unduly obtained certificates of origin (F

22 December 2009 - EU's clothing imports from Bangladesh remained relatively strong over the first half, whatever the general decline of the European market. This is mostly due to much higher Bangladeshi prices in euro terms while the German and the French markets remained attracted by lower-priced products from the impoverished country, as reflected by our series of statistical tables. Source: Emerging Textiles

China has threatened the European Union with legal action after EU governments voted to renew punitive anti-dumping tariffs against imports of Chinese and Vietnamese footwear. The tariffs, intended to protect European leather manufacturers from below-cost Asian competition, were renewed for 15 months yesterday despite a recommendation by European trade officials that they be scrapped. The duties, first imposed in 2006, amount to a 16.5 per cent import tax on leather shoes from China and a 10

22 December 2009 - Polyester prices possibly found a bottom in China, after a three-week decline. Spot prices even rose since the start of the week. Raw material costs and demand are however decreasing in the meantime, prefiguring lower prices ahead. Source: Emerging Textiles

HONG KONG –World leading clothing retailers and experts on eco-textiles and sustainability will convene at the Planet Textiles event next March which runs alongside Interstoff Asia Essential. Executives from Wal-Mart, KIK and IKEA have confirmed that they will speak at the new Planet Textiles event on sustainability which will take place at Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre in March 2010. Eleanor Wright, Wal-Mart, raw materials director, based in Shenzen, China has agreed to updat

GREENFIELD - Organic cotton growers increased plantings by 26% in 2009 compared to the previous year, according to the preliminary data collected by the Organic Trade Association (OTA). However, those surveyed also highlighted the problems of securing a reliable market for their cotton. An analysis of available data collected by the Cotton Incorporated-funded survey of US organic cotton producers and preliminary data from the Texas Organic Cotton Marketing Cooperative (TOCMC) put the planted

Bad spelling, cheap prices and poor quality are all telltale signs of fake garments, according to a UK clothing retailer. Online retailer Styles UK Designer Clothing has warned shoppers about potential pitfalls with its "Top ten tips on how to spot counterfeit designer clothing". Also among the tips are buying from a US or EU based website and company when online and taking a good look at the stitching. Spokesperson Andy May said: "Another simple means to identify a fake garment is to loo