Bangladesh will have to pass a series of reviews to win back its trade privileges to the American market, said a senior official of the US Embassy in Dhaka yesterday.
The disclosure puts a damper on the hopes of the country, which has been expecting restoration of the generalised system of preferences (GSP) right after the second meeting of the Ticfa, due to be held in the US capital on November 23.
“We have fulfilled all of the conditions given by the US. I am hopeful that we will get back the trade benefits soon after the meeting in Washington,” Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed had told a media briefing last week.
Restoring the GSP is a process and the process has only started with the visit of a team from the Untied States Trade Representative, the Obama administration’s foreign trade negotiator, in September, said David Meale, deputy chief of mission of the US Embassy in Dhaka.
“We need to complete this process as we work together to restore the GSP.”
The USTR team’s visit was a step towards the review of the Sustainability Compact, which is slated for early next year, he said.
The Sustainability Compact is an agreement signed between the European Union and the Bangladesh government in July 2013 with the support of the International Labour Organisation to promote continuous improvements in labour rights and factory safety in the country’s garment and knitwear industries.
Later, the US joined the compact.
“The US is also a part of the compact and we will participate in monitoring the progress of compact implementation during the upcoming meeting,” Meale said.
Although Bangladesh has progressed a lot with regards to factory inspections by the two foreign agencies — Accord and Alliance — few things are yet to be completed, he said.
The issues are: all the factories have not been inspected yet; remediation works have just started; lack of transparency in factory inspection reports; incomplete database of inspection; and the challenges faced by the Accord and Alliance.
Asked about Ahmed’s comment that the signing of the Ticfa is meaningless if the GSP is not restored, he said: “GSP is not everything, as Ticfa has created a good platform for more bilateral trade and investment opportunities between the two countries.”
The Trade and Investment Coopera-tion Forum Agreement that the two countries signed in November 2013 provides a platform for both the governments to discuss trade and investment issues, areas of cooperation and settle bilateral trade disputes through holding regular discussions.
The Trade and Investment Cooperation Forum Agreement that the two countries signed in November 2013 provides a platform for both the governments to discuss trade and investment issues, areas of cooperation and settle bilateral trade disputes through holding regular discussions.
“Ticfa is about expanding the potential of our bilateral trade and investment relationship, which encompasses so many areas. It’s important to note that GSP itself applies to less than 1 percent of our two-way trade,” Meale said.
The suspension of GSP provisions had no impact on how the US treats Bangladesh’s garment exports, he said, adding that the country performed strongly.
Meale said Bangladesh has the potential to expand exports to the US in numerous sectors; examples include pharmaceuticals and IT products and services.
On the mega Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement and the position of Bangladesh, he said the country has a good chance to be a member of the pact, which controls 40 percent of the global gross domestic product.
Bangladesh’s garment sector might not be affected by the TPP, which might come into effect after one or two years.
Bangladesh exported garment items worth $1.81 billion to the US in July-October, up 17.58 percent year-on-year, according to the Export Promotion Bureau.
Last fiscal year, the country exported garment products worth $5.29 billion to the US, which is an increase of 2.85 percent from a year earlier.
Source: The Daily Star
