The All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (Aptma) has called on the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) to implement video analytics monitoring at the ginning stage of the cotton supply chain. According to Aptma, this step is crucial to addressing the issue of undocumented cotton, often referred to as ‘gol maal’, entering the market at this stage.
In a letter to FBR Chairman Rashid Mahmood Langrial, Aptma pointed out that discrepancies in cotton production figures are primarily rooted at the ginning stage, not in the spinning mills. Data from the Punjab Crop Reporting Service (CRS) and the Pakistan Cotton Ginners’ Association (PCGA) reveal a gap between the cotton produced and the cotton processed at ginneries. While the CRS estimates Punjab’s cotton production for 2025-26 at 3.81 million bales, only 2.45 million bales were reported at the ginneries, leaving a discrepancy of about 1.35 million bales in the province alone.
Aptma emphasised that spinning mills process only documented cotton bales, and monitoring at this stage would not be effective in curbing the flow of undocumented cotton. “The only effective solution is mandatory monitoring and a national cotton traceability system at the ginning stage,” the association stated, echoing proposals made to the Ministry of Commerce, Ministry of National Food Security & Research, and FBR in the past.
The letter also called for the withdrawal of STGO No 08/2025, which focuses on spinning mills, and recommended replacing it with a procedure that enforces traceability and compliance at the ginning level. This, according to Aptma, would ensure greater transparency and safeguard fiscal integrity within the textile sector.
