PAKISTAN: Leather Industry Angry At EU Duties

The chairman of the Pakistan Tanners Association (PTA), Masood Ahmed, has called on the government to hold talks with the EU over the reduction of import duties on leather products which are hitting the nation's leather exports. In a statement, Masood said rival leather producing countries such as Turkey, India and Bangladesh had an unfair advantage over Pakistan as their leather goods were not subject to the same import taxes. He added that during the past five years, leather exports to the EU had fallen year-on-year.