Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed said the Trade and Investment Cooperation Facilitation Agreement (TICFA) with the US will become meaningless if Bangladesh’s exports to the USA do not get duty-free access.
Tofail made the remark in presence of the US ambassador Den W Mozena at the inaugural function of US Trade Show at a local hotel in the city. He said the US government always made conditions and Bangladesh fulfils those conditions. But the desired duty free market access is not achieved.
“I want the US to give us duty-free access to Bangladesh to make TICFA bearing fruits. Otherwise it may turn out to be meaningless,” he said. The commerce Minister attended the opening of 23rd US Trade Show in Dhaka as the chief guest. .
The American Chamber of Commerce in Bangladesh (AmCham) and the US embassy in Dhaka jointly organized the three-day exhibition at the capital’s Sonargaon on Saturday last.
AmCham president Aftabul Islam and leaders of other chamber bodies, diplomats and senior US embassy officials were present on the occasion.
Tofail said most of the developed and developing countries allow duty-free access to all Bangladeshi products; the US, however, gives the privilege to only selected items from Bangladesh and on minor products, he said.
Garment products, which form the bulk of the country’s export basket, do not get duty-free access to the US; they are subjected to 15.61 percent duty. “The other competing countries of Bangladesh in this field pay much less duty for apparel exports,” the commerce minister said. With high hopes of securing duty-free access for its garment products, Bangladesh last year signed the TICFA creating a platform to resolve trade-related disputes between the two countries through discussions.
Tofail blamed the suspension of GSP for making cautious the behaviour of the US retailers after the Rana Plaza collapse and the slow down in placing export orders may bring setback to achieving the fscal 2014-15’s export target of $33.20 billion.
Mozena in return said the government must play a leading role in ensuring that Bangladeshi enterprises, especially in the apparel industry, meet international standards for workplace safety, respect for workers’ rights and protection of the environment.
He said Bangladesh is emerging as the biggest outsourcing market of global apparel buyers in few years time.
Source: Weekly Holiday
