‘Duty-free access sought again for RMG made from US cotton’

Bangladesh again demanded duty-free access to the American markets today for the locally made garments made from the US cotton, Senior Commerce Secretary Tapan Kanti Ghosh said.

Bangladesh placed the demand in a meeting with the senior officials of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) at the secretary's office in the capital's commerce ministry.

Earlier, Bangladesh made the same in the last meeting of the Trade and Investment Cooperation Forum Agreement (TICFA) held in Washington in December last year, he said.

The secretary shared the information at a press conference after the meeting with the senior officials of the USTR.

The US government usually does not allow duty-free access to garment items imported from any country, Ghosh said.

Bangladesh lifted the rule of mandatory fumigation of US cotton this month and, in reciprocity, the south Asian nation asked for the special access for the locally produced apparels, he said.

However, the fumigation is still mandatory for raw cotton brought in from other North American countries, as those are not scientifically tested like the ones imported from the USA.

In the meeting, the USTR officials complained about the export of counterfeit goods from Bangladesh to the USA.

Ghosh said there is no chance of sending any counterfeit goods from Bangladesh to the USA and the EU as the consignments are audited by different organisations at different levels before final shipments.

The USTR also stressed the need for improving the business climate to attract more American investment to Bangladesh, he said.

Ghosh said the government has already changed the renewal time for trade and export-import licences.

Previously, those licences were needed to be renewed every year but now it is needed to renew in five years, he said.

The USTR also expressed concerns about the government's new Data Protection Act, which might discourage the US businesses to invest more in Bangladesh.

Ghosh said the visiting USTR team will sit with the ICT ministry tomorrow.

From the US side, Brian Luti, director for South Asia regional affairs at the National Security Council; Brendan Lynch, deputy assistant USTR, and Mahnaz Khan, director for South Asia at the USTR, attended the meeting.

After the meeting, nobody from the USTR talked to the journalists.

The Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) has also been demanding the duty-free market access to the USA for the garment items made from the American cotton.

The BGMEA had already sent letters last month to different state governors and senators of the USA demanding the facility.