Bangladesh to demand GSP reinstatement at TICFA meeting
Bangladesh will once more urge the US government to reinstate the generalised program of tastes (GSP) for different export products in the upcoming TICFA assembly, according to Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi yesterday.
The GSP, a preferential tariff system which provides tariff reduction on various products, was suspended for Bangladesh following a nation's deadliest industrial accident, the collapse of Rana Plaza in 2013.
The fifth circular of the Trade and Investment Cooperation Forum Agreement (TICFA) meeting between the officials of Bangladesh's commerce ministry and america Trade Representative (USTR) will be held in Dhaka on Thursday.
Aside from reinstating the GSP, Bangladesh will discuss investment, the removal of trade barriers, easy marketplace access to the united states from Bangladesh, increasing bilateral trade, intellectual property privileges, cotton issues and the digital overall economy through the TICFA meeting.
Munshi yesterday sat with Christopher Wilson, associate USTR for South and Central Asia, for a gathering at his secretariat office in Dhaka.
During the meeting, an American delegation also mentioned US financial commitment in areas like agro-based industries, tax vacation benefits for US firms in Bangladesh and bilateral trade concerns.
"We expect a great final result from the TICFA assembly as we have improved both workplace protection and labour rights found in the united states as per suggestions of the USTR," Munshi told reporters.
Delegations from both countries may also discuss Bangladesh's graduation from least developed region to developing nation by 2024 due to the united states will lose several trade benefits in key export destinations. Subsequently, Bangladesh's delegation will inform the assembly on the country's preparedness to handle the challenges following the graduation.
Following the collapse of Rana Plaza, the USTR suspended Bangladesh's GSP status in June in the same year, citing poor working conditions and a lack of labour rights in the garment sector. Interestingly though, the apparel industry didn't enjoy GSP facilities in america at the time.
The USTR had also outlined 16 conditions to be met by Bangladesh if the country desire to reclaim the GSP status.
Following Rana Plaza incident, advancements were manufactured in electrical, fire protection and structural issues in factories. Labour laws had been also amended to boost worker's rights according to the recommendations.
Progress reports on place of work safeness were submitted to the USTR twice. Even so, the USTR did not reinstate GSP status for Bangladesh as the government observed that further advancements, especially in labour privileges, were required.
Currently, the government will not provide GSP status to apparel items from any country however the duties imposed change from nation to nation.
The total value of exports from Bangladesh to the US under the GSP was $34.7 million until it was scrapped. Beneficiaries included sectors such as for example tobacco, sports equipment, porcelain and plastic goods.
THE UNITED STATES is Bangladesh's single greatest export vacation spot. As a least created country, 97 % of the goods from Bangladesh had appreciated duty-free benefits in america markets as per the decision taken through the Hong Kong Ministerial Getting together with of the World Trade Organization in 2005.
Even so, the country's main export item, garments, had not been contained in the 97 % package. Garment exports take into account 95 % of Bangladesh's exports to the US.
Therefore, Bangladeshi exporters face 15.62 per cent duty on the export of attire what to US markets.
In fiscal 2017-18, Bangladesh exported goods worthwhile $5.98 billion to US marketplaces while importing goods worth $1.70 billion, according to data from the commerce ministry.
