A tug-of-war among the Board of Investment (BoI), Ministry of Jute and Textile (MoJT) and some other government agencies has been the key factor in delaying the framing of the Apparel Board Act – 2012. As a result, the entire garment sector, which is the principal foreign exchange earner of the country, is virtually running without a guideline. Textile and Jute secretary, however, told The Independent last week that differences have mostly been sorted out and a draft of the Act is ready. It would be placed before the cabinet this week, he confirmed. At the last inter-ministerial meeting on the proposed Act, held on April 11 last year, it was said that the draft had been placed before the cabinet about six months earlier and was supposed to be distributed among different stakeholders for further discussion.
In order to frame an appropriate law to set up a board, a committee was also formed, including the participation of the Jute and Textile Ministry, Ministry of Commerce, Labour and Employment Ministry, BoI, BTMA, BGMEA and BKMEA. In due course, the committee framed a draft of the law.
At the meeting it was also discussed that in accordance with the allocation of business, the textile ministry was supposed to guide the textile sector. But since the 1980s, the Ministry of Commerce has been looking into matters of the textile and apparel sectors. Later, a report prepared by the Bangladesh Trade Support Programme (BTSP) recommended formation of an Apparel Board under the commerce ministry. But the representative of the BoI maintained that the BoI, according to Section 7(4) of the draft, takes the responsibility of the Board and inclusion of the law in the proposed Textile and Apparel Board Act would cause an overload of work for the ministry concerned.
But the director of the Textile Directorate contradicted the proposal, saying that according to Section 10(1) of 1989 BoI Act, the BoI would issue registration for all industries. So far, the BoI had no jurisdiction in issuing registration for the garment sector.
On the other hand, the representative of the Ministry of Commerce said according to sections 7(2) and 7(17) of the proposed Act, the Ministry of Commerce handles the daily activities of the Board.
It may be mentioned that the BTSP, in its study report, had recommended combination of all the ministries, departments and agencies in the Board. Section 5.2.4 (j) of the report said that in order to look after the RMG sector, creation of an Apparel Board under the Ministry of Textile and Jute would be a timely and appropriate step.
“The EPB’s work starts with marketing of manufacturing products. The proposed Apparel Board would deal with matters relating to RMG workers, backward linkages, future sector visions and scenarios, operating as a think-tank and other related issues.
However, it has to be acknowledged that each of the current players has its own interests and responsibilities. The creation of an Apparel Board has to involve all crucial players right from the beginning, the report added.
According to various sources, the reason for the tug-of-war among various government agencies to head the board is the sense of supremacy in holding industrial trade fairs abroad, involving a handsome amount of money and frequent foreign visit.
According to the present Rules of Business, most international trade fairs are conducted by the BoI. The Ministry of Commerce is aiming to become the sole authority of those actions.
When conducted, Ashraful Maqbul, senior secretary of Jute and Textile, told The Independent that deliberations of different government and private agencies have been taken into consideration and the draft of the Act would be placed before the cabinet within the current week. He said, according to the Ministry of Commerce, the EPB holds the entire trade fair and if the Board manages a separate stream of trade fairs, it would create a difficult situation for both. A decision has been taken to allow the Board to hold only trade fairs on apparel, leaving the authorities to hold all other trade fairs on the EPB, he said. But the Board will have to organise trade fairs on apparel in consultation with the EPB, he maintained.
-With The Independent input
