The American Apparel and Footwear Association (AAFA) and the Paris-based Union des Fabricants (UNIFAB) have suggested the USTR put Bangladesh on its priority watch list for alleged involvement in exporting counterfeit goods, including garment.
Dhaka is taking necessary steps to respond to the issues raised by the office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR).
Commerce ministry has already sent its initial submission to the USTR office over the allegation and sought 15 more days to give its final submission, sources said.
The USTR has started its annual special 301 review which concerns intellectual property rights (IPR) protection and enforcement, including a publicly comment period.
The US State Department on February 10 informed Bangladesh of the 301 review and asked it to send its submission by February 13, they added.
The AAFA represents apparel, footwear and other sewn product makers and their suppliers who have more than 1,000 world-famous brands and over $470-billion annual retail sales.
In its comment to the USTR, the AAFA said, “While being an important legitimate sourcing country for the industry, counterfeits from Bangladesh are being seized at an increasing rate globally as counterfeit production is growing.”
“As one member shared, ‘…it remains impossible to conduct any form of IP enforcement in Bangladesh due to zero established IP policies’ with high levels of corruption exacerbating the situation. Thus AAFA recommends that Bangladesh be listed on USTR’s Priority Watch List,” reads the note.
Citing one of its member brands, it said well-organised Bangladeshi-run counterfeiting networks effectively export counterfeits for sale to consumers in the UK, the Philippines, Malaysia and more.
A group of fashion brands formed a group to address counterfeiting in Bangladesh.
In 2022, the group conducted 56 global seizures that contained counterfeit goods manufactured in Bangladesh, a 50-per cent increase from 2021, they found.
