Uttarakhand: Bhupender Yadav inaugurates Pashmina Certification Centre set up in Wildlife Institute of India

The Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change and Labour and Employment termed PCC as a boost for Atamnirbhar Bharat, adding that it will provide certification for the purity of Pashmina products and the absence of prohibited fibre for hassle-free movement of the products from India.

Wildlife Institute of India (WII), Dehradun had signed a 'Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Export Promotion Council for Handicrafts (EPCH), New Delhi, for setting up a 'Pashmina Testing Facility' in WII on January 5, 2023.

Through this MoU, the EPCH collaborated with WII to establish a Pashmina Certification Center (PCC) for its associated members involved in Pashmina Trade.

"The purpose of setting up this PCC is to streamline the Pashmina Trade and to provide a one-stop testing facility to certify genuine Pashmina Product free from any prohibited fibres to the associated manufacturers, exporters, and traders. All the tested products will be labelled with a traceable unique id tag with individual e-certificates, enabling a seamless trade of such products in national and international markets. In the absence of such a facility in the country, commercial woollen products get under scrutiny to rule out the presence of prohibited fibres at the country's exit points, which causes delays in clearance and associated demurrage charges and financial/business loss to the exporters and traders," the Ministry stated in a press release.

The PCC at WII, Dehradun, will assist honest exporters and traders involved in the trade of genuine Pashmina products. Setting up such a facility in India will be a game changer for the seamless trade of genuine Pashmina products with authentic certification.

In concurrence with the Central Government's policy, it is a kind of facility based on the Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) model for assisting the Pashmina traders in obtaining authenticity certificates for selling certified and genuine Pashmina products.

Under this MoU, the advanced technologies have been housed in a single facility supporting Pashmina test procedures. It is an example of a self-sustaining and revenue-generating facility in a government organization supporting associated exporters and traders on a payment basis.

This facility has also generated employment opportunities for budding professionals on the PPP model. This certification will help buyer to procure authenticated and certified Pashmina products. The PCC certification will have national and international importance with the availability of authenticated certification.

"PCC in WII will be one focal centre to obtain a certificate for seamless trade of Pashmina products, thereby will assist in revenue generation for the country through artisans and traders. Pashmina is a major source of livelihood for the artisan and weaver community of Jammu & Kashmir; hence, this centre will also help them to speed up their industry, which was under scrutiny due to the unavailability of such facility and frequent confiscation at the exit point of the country by the Customs due to suspect of potential mixing of prohibited fibre and export a mixed lot of banned wool along with the Pashmina under misleading name and labels. Further, this will discourage the use of prohibited fibre, resulting in Chiru conservation in their habitat," the Ministry further stated. (ANI)