A new door has opened to boost Bangladesh’s RMG export further as some non-traditional markets have relaxed Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) rules and created provisions facilitating duty-free access for Bangladeshi products, industry insiders say. They said Japan has relaxed its GSP rules of origin with effect from April 1 for knitwear products from Bangladesh while Latin American country Chile has also lifted duties for apparel items sourced from Bangladesh. “Now, apparel products from Bangladesh will enjoy zero-tariff facility in the Japanese market. Chile has also started allowing duty-free exports Bangladeshi RMG goods,” said Faruque Hasan, former vice president of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) on Thursday. He said some 62 Bangladeshi apparel manufacturers will participate in a RMG trade fair scheduled to be held later this month in Sao Paolo, Brazil. Faruque said a study carried out by the German Development Cooperation (GIZ) in association with BGMEA has identified Latin America as the most potential export destination for Bangladeshi RMG goods in near future. He said BGMEA sent its first scoping mission to Latin America (Mexico, Brazil and Chile) in 2010 to assess the market and work on initial marketing. The BGMEA also published a market fact book on “Mexico, Brazil & Chile” to be circulating among its members (RMG exporters). The former BGMEA vice president observed that Bangladesh’s apparel products have huge potential in the non-traditional markets (other than the EU, USA and Canada). He said Bangladesh achieved a remarkable growth in RMG export to Latin America in recent years. According to BGMEA data, RMG export to Brazil and Chile was only $39.57 million and $6.41 million respectively in 2008-2009 fiscal, which jumped by 330.22 percent and 414.98 percent respectively to $170.24 million and $33.01 million in 2013-2014 fiscal. Faruque said the government of Chile lowered its duty on Bangladeshi RMG products to 6 percent, responding to a request from a BGMEA delegation during its visit to Santiago last year. “From 1st January 2015, they have made it completely duty-free for any kind of apparel items,” he said. “Moreover, the special cash incentive provided by the Bangladesh government on exports to non-traditional markets helped us significantly to achieve this success,” Faruque added. He said there has neither been any Bangladesh mission in any Latin America nor any Latin Embassy in Bangladesh until 2011. As a result of BGMEA’s relentless endeavours and follow-up visits and meetings with the government, Bangladesh opened embassies in Brazil and Mexico. “Brazil also opened its embassy in Dhaka. So we don’t need to go to New Delhi any more to get Brazilian visa,” the former BGMEA vice president said. He said the variation in the seasonal cycle in Latin America largely due to its location in the Southern Hemisphere created a unique advantage for Bangladesh’s apparel exporters to boost export even during the lean periods. He said they have also made significant headway in their efforts to ensure better access to the Japanese and EU markets in the future. Faruque Hasan said the Bangladeshi RMG exporters already secured duty-free market access to Korea, Malaysia, Maldives, Belarus, China and India for most apparel products. “I hope we will be able to keep this growth momentum in the non-traditional markets and maintain the growth sustainability to achieve our vision of $50-billion export by 2021,” he said. Turning on GSP relaxation by Japan, he said Japan earlier had granted a two-stage duty-waiver on apparel items from Bangladesh. “Bangladeshi apparel makers can now make duty-free export of any RMG item (woven and knit) regardless of the fabric (local or imported) to Japan,” he said. He said the privilege in the Japanese market was achieved by bi-lateral visits of the prime ministers of Bangladesh and Japan in recent years.According to BGMEA data, Bangladesh’s RMG export to Japan soared to $572.27 million in 2013-2014 fiscal from just $74.33 million in 2008-2009 FY. “The change in the GSP facility has played a vital role behind this growth in RMG export. We believe that the further relaxation of GSP rules will help our knitwear items grab greater market share in Japan,” Faruque Hasan said.
Source: https://www.daily-sun.com/print/front-page/2015/05/10/502286#sthash.0ZiHQeut.dpuf
