Pashmina shawls have Shahtoosh guard hair, say Customs officials; all fluff, counter traders and artisans

Obsolete testing technique leading to ‘false positive’ for presence of banned Shahtoosh guard hair, say traders

Traders of universally-prized Pashmina shawls are complaining that “obsolete testing methods” have resulted in many of their export consignments being flagged for presence of ‘Shahtoosh’ guard hair, which is obtained from endangered Tibetan antelopes. The traders claim the use of obsolete techniques such as ‘Light Microscopy’ by the authorities has resulted in several cases of ‘false positive’ leading to their wrongful prosecution.

Pashmina is obtained from breeds of mountain goats ( capra hircus) found in the Changthang Plateau in Tibet and parts of Ladakh, in the Himalayan region of India.

Manufacture of Pashmina is a largely unorganised cottage/handicraft industry providing employment and livelihood to approximately 6 lakh people, most notably to local skilled villagers and artisans in Kashmir.

Shahtoosh, on the other hand, is the fine undercoat fibre obtained from the Tibetan Antelope, known locally as ‘Chiru’, a species living mainly in the northern parts of the Changthang Plateau in Tibet. As they offer high levels of smoothness and warmth, Shahtoosh shawls became a highly expensive commodity.

Unfortunately, due to commercial poaching of the animal, their population declined dramatically. CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna & Flora) included the Tibetan Antelope in 1979 leading to prohibition in sale and trade of Shahtoosh shawls and scarves.

As the two materials have similar physical properties and tangibility, differentiation is hard without advanced scientific forensic methods.