China offers duty-free access to 4,721 Bangladeshi goods
Generous offer catches commerce officials by surprise, negotiations soon
Nazmul Ahsan
China has offered to extend duty-free access to nearly 5,000 Bangladeshi products in a major goodwill gesture that has caught the trade officials here by surprise.
The "stunning" offer was made by China last week and it followed the high profile visit by prime minister Sheikh Hasina to Beijing in March this year, commerce ministry officials said.
"The Chinese embassy informed us of the offer. It is a huge goodwill gesture by Beijing," a senior commerce ministry official told the FE.
"We are stunned by the magnanimity of the offer. Its beauty is that Beijing hasn't imposed any preconditions for availing the access, nor does it want any reciprocal action by Bangladesh," he added.
According to the offer, 4,721 goods would be granted duty-free access in China - now the world's second largest economy -- provided at least 40 percent value of the merchandises are added in Bangladeshi shore.
China has not named the products included in the duty-free access list. But officials said they would get the full list and details of the offer by the end of this month.
Bangladesh enjoys duty-free access to 27 European Union nations under its Everything But Arms (EBA) trade access facilities the continental grouping extended to the world's least developed countries.
Thanks to the EBA and its precursor GSP (Generalised System of Preference), Bangladesh apparel sector has become a twelve billion dollar industry in just little over a decade's time.
The country also enjoys duty free access of hundreds of products to countries in North America, Asia and Oceania. But in most cases, Bangladesh's main export item, apparel, has been made off-limit to these generosities.
Officials hoped ready-made garments and leather and leather goods would be included in the Chinese duty-free access offer as Bangladesh has competitive advantages in these products.
"If garments and some of our top export items are given duty-free access to the Chinese market, we'll be an economic force to reckon with in a few years time," a Tariff Commission official said.
The Tariff Commission, which operates as a government think tank on trade issues, has been tasked to examine the Chinese offer and facilitate negotiations over the issues.
Duty-free access to Chinese market is very important for Bangladeshi merchandise, as it is the fastest growing economy in the world with a population of 1.30 billion and the growth of major Asian economies now largely hinge on its expansion.
Officials in the commerce ministry said they would soon discuss the trade access issue with Chinese officials in Bangkok on the sideline of a meeting of the Asia Pacific Trade Agreement (APTA).
Bangladesh and China are members of the regional trade agreement that also includes South Korea, Thailand, Laos and Sri Lanka.
"We would prefer China to extend the facility under the APTA as it has a relaxed rules of origin criteria, meaning we won't have to add much value to our export products," a commerce ministry official said.
Officials said Dhaka had earlier sought duty-free access of 39 items to Beijing during the last Bangladesh-China Joint Economic Commission meeting. The meeting was held in Beijing on July 28-29, 2009.
The list includes apparel items, footwear, raw leather, jute goods, recycled plastics, sweet potato, linen, herbal. Together they made up only a fraction of Bangladesh's $15.56 billion shipment last year.
Over the last few years, China has replaced India as Bangladesh's biggest import destination. Bilateral trade between the two nations has touched over four billion dollars and is heavily skewed in favour of Beijing.
The country's major export items to China include raw jute, leather, shrimps, woven garments, camera parts, copper wire, plastic waste and engineering products.
Currently, the products don't enjoy duty free access.
China offers duty-free access to 4,721 Bangladeshi goods
Generous offer catches commerce officials by surprise, negotiations soon
Nazmul Ahsan
China has offered to extend duty-free access to nearly 5,000 Bangladeshi products in a major goodwill gesture that has caught the trade officials here by surprise.
The "stunning" offer was made by China last week and it followed the high profile visit by prime minister Sheikh Hasina to Beijing in March this year, commerce ministry officials said.
"The Chinese embassy informed us of the offer. It is a huge goodwill gesture by Beijing," a senior commerce ministry official told the FE.
"We are stunned by the magnanimity of the offer. Its beauty is that Beijing hasn't imposed any preconditions for availing the access, nor does it want any reciprocal action by Bangladesh," he added.
According to the offer, 4,721 goods would be granted duty-free access in China - now the world's second largest economy -- provided at least 40 percent value of the merchandises are added in Bangladeshi shore.
China has not named the products included in the duty-free access list. But officials said they would get the full list and details of the offer by the end of this month.
Bangladesh enjoys duty-free access to 27 European Union nations under its Everything But Arms (EBA) trade access facilities the continental grouping extended to the world's least developed countries.
Thanks to the EBA and its precursor GSP (Generalised System of Preference), Bangladesh apparel sector has become a twelve billion dollar industry in just little over a decade's time.
The country also enjoys duty free access of hundreds of products to countries in North America, Asia and Oceania. But in most cases, Bangladesh's main export item, apparel, has been made off-limit to these generosities.
Officials hoped ready-made garments and leather and leather goods would be included in the Chinese duty-free access offer as Bangladesh has competitive advantages in these products.
"If garments and some of our top export items are given duty-free access to the Chinese market, we'll be an economic force to reckon with in a few years time," a Tariff Commission official said.
The Tariff Commission, which operates as a government think tank on trade issues, has been tasked to examine the Chinese offer and facilitate negotiations over the issues.
Duty-free access to Chinese market is very important for Bangladeshi merchandise, as it is the fastest growing economy in the world with a population of 1.30 billion and the growth of major Asian economies now largely hinge on its expansion.
Officials in the commerce ministry said they would soon discuss the trade access issue with Chinese officials in Bangkok on the sideline of a meeting of the Asia Pacific Trade Agreement (APTA).
Bangladesh and China are members of the regional trade agreement that also includes South Korea, Thailand, Laos and Sri Lanka.
"We would prefer China to extend the facility under the APTA as it has a relaxed rules of origin criteria, meaning we won't have to add much value to our export products," a commerce ministry official said.
Officials said Dhaka had earlier sought duty-free access of 39 items to Beijing during the last Bangladesh-China Joint Economic Commission meeting. The meeting was held in Beijing on July 28-29, 2009.
The list includes apparel items, footwear, raw leather, jute goods, recycled plastics, sweet potato, linen, herbal. Together they made up only a fraction of Bangladesh's $15.56 billion shipment last year.
Over the last few years, China has replaced India as Bangladesh's biggest import destination. Bilateral trade between the two nations has touched over four billion dollars and is heavily skewed in favour of Beijing.
The country's major export items to China include raw jute, leather, shrimps, woven garments, camera parts, copper wire, plastic waste and engineering products.
Currently, the products don't enjoy duty free access.
China offers duty-free access to 4,721 Bangladeshi goods
