The Confederation of Indian Textile Industry (CITI) has joined hands with the International Trade Centre (ITC) to pilot an EU-funded capacity-building initiative that aims to raise the preparedness of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in India’s textile and apparel sector related to the European Union’s Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CS3D).
A joint agency of the United Nations and the World Trade Organization (WTO), ITC provides support to small businesses in developing countries in trade matters. ITC is the focal point in the United Nations system for technical cooperation with developing countries and economies in transition, on trade promotion and export development.
Adopted in 2024, the CS3D mandates that companies of a certain size operating in the EU identify, prevent, and mitigate adverse human rights and environmental impacts within their operations, subsidiaries, and value chains. This responsibility is likely to set expectations for suppliers outside the EU, including direct and indirect business partners of EU companies, especially in sectors where adverse impacts are more likely to occur.
“We are delighted to enter into this partnership with the ITC on enhancing the capacity of India’s textile and apparel industry regarding the EU’s CS3D mandate, given the potential opportunities that are likely to open up for our companies following the proposed India-EU FTA, currently being negotiated,” CITI Chairman Shri Ashwin
Chandran said.
“India’s textile and apparel exporters being in a stronger position on the sustainability front is imperative for achieving the target of textile and apparel exports worth $100 billion by 2030,” Shri Chandran added. Most companies in India’s textile and apparel sector fall in the MSME category.
As part of the CITI-ITC partnership, ITC and CITI organised a sensitisation workshop in Delhi on November 27 to make stakeholders aware of the latest trends and legislative proposals, with a focus on CS3D, and also introduced the pilot project and online tool prepared by ITC to help industry assess their preparedness to comply with the regulation.
ITC also conducted a dedicated Training of Trainers (ToT) for select CITI staff on 26th November to equip them with practical knowledge on the use of the CS3D Supplier Preparedness Diagnostic tool, so that CITI can further disseminate this knowledge in the Indian textile and apparel sector.
