By IANS
Brussels : Pakistan's exports to the 27-nation European Union (EU) of cotton-type bed linen are now subject to a definitive anti-dumping duty.
EU foreign ministers took this step at their regular monthly meeting in Brussels earlier this week, reported the Inepnext news agency said.
But Pakistani exporters are likely to shrug off the duty, which ranges from zero percent to 8.5 percent, with a weighted average of 5.8 percent.
The fact is that these rates have been in force, on a provisional basis, since May 2006, having first been imposed in 2004.
Pakistani bed linen exports, which came to 235 million euro in 2005, rose to 264 million euro in 2006.
The corresponding figures for Indian bed linen exports were 95 million euro (2005) and 104 million euro (2006).
Indian exports to the EU of all textiles and clothing stood at 5.6 billion euro during the first 11 months of 2006, as compared to 4.8 billion euro for the same period in 2005.
The corresponding figures for Pakistani exports to the EU were 2.1 billion and 1.9 billion.