We may get duty-free access to US market: Jalil

We may get duty-free access to US market: Jalil

October 1, 2000

Dhaka (UNB) – Commerce Minister Abdul Jalil said on September 31, 2000 that, Bangladesh is likely to get duty-free access to the US market as the government took the issue seriously.

“Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in her upcoming visit to USA is going to take up the issue and we do hope that her endeavour will bring concrete result,” he said at a dialogue at CIRDAP Auditorium here.

The United States has enacted Trade and Development Act (TDA) allowing LDCs off Sub-Saharan Africa and the Caribbean countries zero tariff export access to the US market. Bangladesh and 14 other LDCs have not been extended this preferential treatment.

Center for Policy Dialogue (CPD) organised the dialogue on “Implementation of WTO ATC (Agreement on Textile and Clothing): Current Status and Implication for Bangladesh” with its chairman Prof. Rehman Sobhan in the chair.

“Under the close directive of the PM the government is persuing an active economic diplomacy to get the US government to agree to include Bangladesh under the purview of this act,” Jalil said.

He said the issues of critical interests to Bangladesh’s export sector including, availability of US GSP will also come under discussion during the official talks of Hasina and Clinton.

The speakers emphasized the need for expediting backward linkage industries to face the challenges after the year 2004.

“Short-term benefits must be rejected,” said State Minister for Textile AKM Zahangir Hossain.

He said the government would help recoup the losses in the agriculture sector, build the damaged houses and provide food on VGF cards till next harvest.

Former Commerce Minister M Shamsul Islam said international community should help us on the issue as we lack enough knowledge about WTO regulation.

Non-tariff barriers like Trade Unions and child labour issues would be very difficult for us to overcome.

Dean Spinanger of Kiel Institute of World Economics, Germany, Dr Debpriya Bhattachariya and Dr Mustafizur Rahman of CPD were the keynote speakers.