APTMA rejects FBR plan for video monitoring at spinning mills

The All Pakistan Textile Mills Association has rejected the Federal Board of Revenue’s proposal to install video monitoring systems only at spinning mills, saying any cotton traceability framework should begin at the ginning stage.

Addressing a press conference, APTMA Chairman Kamran Arshad said the association supported the government’s efforts to increase documentation, curb tax evasion and improve the tax-to-GDP ratio.

However, he said any system aimed at addressing irregularities in the cotton trade should be practical, evidence-based and applied at the correct point in the supply chain.

Arshad said raw cotton first enters the formal supply chain at the ginning stage, making it the appropriate starting point for traceability.

He criticised recent remarks by the FBR Chairman alleging revenue losses in the textile spinning sector due to the absence of video monitoring systems in mills.

The APTMA chairman said the association had never opposed the use of modern technology for tax monitoring, but called on the FBR to reconsider its plan to install cameras only at spinning units.

He said the government should instead introduce a national cotton traceability system covering the full value chain from the ginning sector onward.

Arshad also disputed the FBR Chairman’s claim of Rs500 billion to Rs700 billion in sales tax evasion on around 1.5 million cotton bales, calling the estimate commercially impossible.

He said the claim would imply a value of roughly Rs1.8 million to Rs2.6 million per bale, whereas the prevailing market value of a cotton bale was around Rs85,000 to Rs90,000.

He said such calculations should be corrected so policy decisions are not based on inaccurate assumptions.

APTMA Chairman North Asad Shafi, former chairmen Syed Ali Ahsan and Abdul Rahim Nasir, senior executives Muhammad Ali Ch and Haroon Ellahi, Secretary General Raza Baqir and Energy Advisor Tahir Basharat Cheema were also present at the press conference.