BTC identifies 190 products
The Bangladesh Tariff Commission has primarily identified 190 products for seeking duty-free and quota-free market access for the products to the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, commerce ministry officials said. They said the products were identified as those have great export potentials to the Gulf countries. As per request of the ministry, the BTC has selected the products based on some criteria such as GCC countries total global import of a particular item, existing tariff structure, Bangladesh’s current export and future export potentials of the product etc., they said.
‘The products including apparel items have tremendous demand in GCC countries—Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and Oman—while Bangladeshi exporters have also the highest capacity to grab the market,’ a senior commerce ministry official told New Age on Wednesday.
Bangladesh’s export will increase manifold and existing huge trade imbalance will reduce if the countries provide DFQF facility to the products, he said.
In the fiscal year 2011-12, Bangladesh imported products worth $3.08 billion from the six countries while exported products worth $341 million, according to the ministry data.
However, Bangladeshi export in the Gulf area has been increasing as in FY2010-11, the volume of export was worth $272 million.
Bangladeshi exporters have to pay 5 per cent duty for all the selected items in the countries, officials said.
The countries have tremendous demand for some products like readymade garment, processed food, vegetables, and leather and footwear that Bangladeshi exporters have the capacity to supply to those countries, officials said.
The ministry will finalise the names of products after getting opinion from the stakeholders particularly exporters and will send the list to the countries seeking DFQF facility for the products, they said, adding that the list might be send to the GCC by next month.
Commerce ministry officials said that Bangladesh had been seeking DFQF facility from the Saudi Arabia since 2008.
At the 10th meeting of the Joint Economic Commission of Bangladesh and Saudi Arabia held in February, the government again proposed for DFQF facility to Bangladeshi products.
In response, the Saudi authorities said that it was impossible for them to provide Bangladesh such trade benefits unilaterally as the country is a member of GCC Customs Union and advised Bangladesh to send the request through GCC.
In this context, the commerce ministry primarily prepared a list of 151 products for Saudi Arabia.
At an inter-ministerial meeting held on August 18, the ministry decided not to request the KSA alone rather prepared a common list of products for all six countries of GCC.
Following the meeting’s decision, the BTC identified the products.
Commerce ministry officials said that the products, in broad categories, are woven garment, knitwear, terry
towel, home textile, leather products, footwear, processed food, fish, dairy products, vegetables, bakery items, printed materials, spices, cut flower and foliage, betel nut, fruit and fruit juice, tableware and kitchenware, toys, jute and jute products and handicrafts.
They said UAE and Saudi Arabia are the biggest market for Bangladesh’s exports in Middle East while other four countries are also emerging as important markets.
In FY 2011-12, Bangladesh exported products worth $170 million to UAE, that of $136 million to KSA, $15.5 million to Kuwait, $11.9 million to Qatar.
Exports to Bahrain and Oman remain very small with Bangladesh having exported products worth $4 million and $3.4million respectively to the two countries in FY 2011-12.
-With New Age input
