BGMEA wants 3-month window from India to clear pending shipments

The Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) today urged the commerce ministry to request the Indian government for a three-month notification period to clear the pending consignments of goods meant for export to India.

The association wanted the government to send a letter to its Indian counterpart, as many exporters' India-bound consignments have been waiting to be unloaded at land ports since May 17, the day India imposed restrictions on the use of land ports for exports from Bangladesh, said Asif Ashraf, former vice-president of the BGMEA.

"In the letter, we requested the government to seek a three-month notification period from the Indian government so we can clear the export of pending consignments," Ashraf told The Daily Star over the phone.

The exporters were not prepared for such a sudden restriction, and now they are worried about financial losses, he added.

Businesses want a solution to the non-tariff barriers in trade between the two neighbouring countries, he said.

In an inter-ministerial meeting convened by the commerce ministry and held at the ministry office in Dhaka on Tuesday, Commerce Secretary Mahbubur Rahman said Bangladesh does not want any further escalation in bilateral trade tension with India, as recent moves by both countries have severely affected trade.

Bangladesh has already sent a letter to the Indian commerce ministry through the foreign ministry, requesting a commerce secretary-level meeting, Rahman said after the meeting.

"We will not go for any retaliation," he said.

"Our efforts will continue so that no further escalation takes place in this connection. We will not retaliate," the commerce secretary also said.

When asked, the secretary added that both sides may be feeling the urgency to settle the issue, as both are beneficiaries of bilateral trade.

The bilateral trade was $10.56 billion in the last fiscal year, when Bangladesh exported goods worth $1.56 billion and imported goods worth $9 billion, according to data from the commerce ministry presented at the meeting.

Bangladesh's April 13 decision to stop yarn imports through four land ports prompted the Indian government to suspend the transshipment of Bangladeshi garment items through Indian airports.

In the supply chain, Bangladesh has become a major export destination for India, as local businesses and traders import industrial raw materials, garments, fabrics, intermediary goods, food, cotton, chemicals, machinery, processed foods, agricultural products, rice, protein items, and vegetables from India.

Currently, India is the second-largest import source for Bangladesh after China.