Bangladesh : Minister decries WTO denial of duty-free access to RMG

The fourth and final revision of the Hong Kong draft declaration was released, Sunday.

Minister of Commerce Altaf Hossain Chowdhury commented that in the Hong Kong declaration, Bangladesh's textile exports were clearly excluded from duty-free and quota-free market access.

Speaking at the post-WTO briefing, the Minister said quoting a US official that RMG export cannot be allowed in the duty free list, as even after payment of 15.8 percent taxes, the rates were competitive.

Early next year, a decision about this would be taken during a series of meetings scheduled in Geneva, Washington and Dhaka, he informed.

He further said representatives of developed countries had made it clear that they would not offer duty-free and quota-free market access for Bangladeshi ready-made garment.

The US, European Union, Brazil and India have all agreed on duty-free and quota-free market access of 97 percent LDC products that exclude textiles.

He said the country was also getting duty-free and quota-free market access to the European Union under the Everything But Arms policy. (EBAs).

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