The National Board of Revenue (NBR) recently allowed a private company Ispahani Summit Alliance Terminals Ltd (ISATL) to set up a quality control centre in a bid to ensure export of quality apparel products. The customs wing of the NBR last month allowed the company to set up a special bonded warehouse and permitted it to establish a quality control centre for examining exportable apparel products. The company will offer ‘pick and pack’ service and work as an agent of foreign buyers. Officials said foreign buyers will pay the charges and fees against the services provided by the quality control company. They said the customs wing has been awarding licences to the private quality control centres since 1998. Apart from the ISATL, there are some 20 such companies in the country. “The NBR approved the first quality control company Koheni Negali in 1998. The board has followed similar rules, under the Customs Act, on appointment of other companies including ISATL,” said a senior customs official. He said the companies applied to the NBR for licences with the recommendations of top three or four foreign buyers to examine quality of export products before shipment. Local exporters are required to go through the private quality control centre if foreign buyers want, he added. Meanwhile, the country’s apparel exporters have raised objection to the establishment of the ISATL claiming that the permission was granted to the company without discussions with the apex exporters’ associations. The NBR has always discussed with the relevant trade bodies prior to such appointment, they claimed. In a recent letter, the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) and the Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA) demanded of the NBR to withdraw permission to ISATL for the ‘sake of export trade.’ Asked on the allegation, the customs official said there is no binding in the customs law on discussing with the exporters before awarding licences to the private quality organisations. The Customs wing has appointed the company ISATL in accordance with the same rules that have been in vogue since 1998. Officials said they could not guess that there would be such opposition on the issue. On quality control issue, the government cannot discourage foreign buyers if they want to appoint their representatives to examine and certify the quality of export products, the official said. They said buyers sometimes remain shaky to send foreign quality control experts due to political turmoil considering security reason. Apparel exporters, however, fear there would be hidden costs that buyers would pass on to the exporters. They also claimed that the lead time of export will be reduced and cost of export products would go up following the latest decision. Currently, quality control representatives of foreign buyers check quality of products inside factories and hand those over for shipments after packing. In the letter to the NBR, the apparel exporters said disputes may arise with the foreign buyers over the issue of private quality control centre and affect the export trade. Talking to the FE, BGMEA president Md Atiqul Islam said the NBR didn’t discuss the issue prior to appointment of the company. “We are not clear what would be the mode of operation and activity of the company. Currently, third party inspection is being conducted by the buyers,” he said. A senior customs official said the entire issue of private quality control mechanism for export of apparels may be reviewed soon to make it more exporter-friendly. He said the issue would be placed to the government high-ups for further discussion.

Source: https://www.thefinancialexpress-bd.com/2015/05/04/91292

The government’s revenue earnings from patents, designs and trademarks remained almost static in the last calendar year despite marked expansion in socio-economic areas. Insiders, however, have attributed it to apathy of the business community and inventors over intellectual property rights (IPR) issue saying that this tendency might lead foreign entities to grab patent rights of the products the country owns. Revenue income from trademarks, patents and designs stood at Tk109.9 million in 2014 which was almost the same at Tk109.88 million in 2013, according to the data of the Department of Patents, Designs and Trademarks (DPDT). The DPDT’s income from trademarks was nearly Tk95 million while earnings from patents and designs stood at only Tk15 million in the last calendar year. Registrar of the department Md Sanowar Hossain told the FE that business people were interested mostly in trademarks. He said revenue earnings from issuance of trademarks stood at Tk69 million in 2010, which is now more than Tk95 million. But earnings from patent and design registration increased by only Tk2.0 million in last five years. Businesses and scientists are not much interested in patenting their products, he said. He said IPR is still not recognised among majority of businessmen. He said foreign entities are more interested in patenting than that of the locals. “In 2014, we received 249 applications from foreigners for patent registration against only 44 from local ones,” he said. “But in the case of trademarks, Bangladeshis are ahead– DPDT received 7,930 applications from the locals while the number was 3,611 from foreign trade bodies and individuals,” he said.   Mr Hossain also pointed out that as a least developed country (LDCs), Bangladesh has a waiver over IPR on certain products or things which are also responsible for poor growth in revenue from patents. Director General of Intellectual Property Association of Bangladesh (IPAB) Md Azizur Rahman told the FE that creation, protection and management of intellectual property (IP) is now an instrument for national development in the context of globalisation of trade and commerce and knowledge world. “We have no specific research as to how much IP contributes to our economy,” he said. He said the country has been witnessing a sizeable economic expansion for a decade. But revenue income from trademarks, designs and patents is not satisfactory compared to that of the growing size of the economy.    He said as a LDC country, our industries are not bound by IPR on specific products for a certain period, but we have to think about it when waiver over IPR goes. Our businesses, scientists, inventors, musicians will have to be cautious over patents from now as foreign entities might claim ownership of our products if the latter patent those earlier, he said. He also said there must be effective coordination between DPDT and National Board of Revenue (NBR) so that information relating to registration could be obtained easily. There must also be effective co-ordination among ministries of commerce, industries, home affairs, law and law-enforcement agencies over IPR issue.

Bangladesh is still the first choice for apparel sourcing after China, but other countries are fast catching up, McKinsey & Company, a global management consulting firm, said in its latest report. The report styled ‘Sourcing in a volatile world — the East Africa opportunity’ singled out Ethiopia, billing it as the one to watch out for — for the first time. The positive outlook on Sub-Saharan Africa is being spurred by anticipated long-term growth in the region’s employable population, which will reach levels similar to those of China by 2035.“It is true that African countries are coming up in the global apparel trade, but it will take at least ten years for them to become our competitors as they are still in the very initial stages,” said Atiqul Islam, president of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association. At the moment, Sub-Saharan Africa has only a 0.56 percent share, or $2.6 billion, of the entire global volume of clothing exports. Bangladesh is still the first choice for apparel sourcing after China, according to a report of McKinsey & Company, a global management consulting firm. Photo: Star/fil“We have an added advantage now as the Accord and Alliance [the two foreign building inspection agencies] have certified more than 98 percent of our factories to be safe after the inspection,” he added.Released last week, the report interviewed the chief purchasing officers (CPOs) of retailers from Europe and the US, whose combined sourcing stands at $70 billion. Asked to rank their most important future sourcing destinations, the respondents identified Bangladesh, Vietnam, Myanmar, and Ethiopia. Around 74 percent of the CPOs said they are planning to decrease their sourcing value share from China, where the costs of production have spiralled in recent years for shortage of workers. They are looking at East African nations of Ethiopia and Kenya as possible alternatives.Some 40 percent of the buyers indicated that sub-Saharan Africa will become more important to the apparel industry in the next five years, in contrast to 24 percent in the last edition of the survey, which came out in 2013. Citing Africa as the new Asia for the apparel industry, the survey report said the CPOs on average plan to increase their currently very low levels of sourcing from Sub-Saharan Africa nearly tenfold by 2020 — from 0.3 percent to 2.8 percent. “There is extensive potential in Sub-Saharan Africa and it remains untapped. Nevertheless, it is essential to analyse the countries in this region at a granular level,” the report said.Scenarios show that even with exponential growth these countries will remain a small part of the global sourcing map in the next five years, but with investments from all the stakeholders involved, the future potential can be realised, the survey also said.Of those surveyed, 28 percent expect to start sourcing in Ethiopia by 2020, while 8 percent are planning to increase their sourcing share in the African nation. For Kenya, the figures are 13 percent and 5 percent respectively. Approximately one-quarter of the companies surveyed said they have sourced from Sub-Saharan Africa in the past 12 months. “These two countries now have opportunities to boost their share of the global sourcing market,” said Achim Berg, a partner of McKinsey & Company, in the report.While Ethiopia has benefits on the cost side, such as labour and energy costs, Kenya offers higher levels of productivity. But there are still some hurdles that both countries need to overcome: they must work to ensure social standards and legal security as well as fight corruption, according to Berg.Currently, Bangladesh is the second largest apparel exporter after China. It has a 5 percent share in the more than $450 billion global apparel market.In fiscal 2013-14, the country raked in $24.50 billion from garment exports, according to Export Promotion Bureau.“China continues to dominate the sourcing market. Bangladesh, Vietnam, and Myanmar generate less than one-third of China’s export value,” Berg said. At present, China accounts for 39 percent, or $177 billion, of the global clothing exports a year.“And yet, the trend of seeking out new sourcing destinations continues.” Three-quarters of the CPOs surveyed expressed a desire to shift at least a portion of their production from China to other countriesIn 2011 and 2013, McKinsey carried out similar surveys, where leading CPOs tipped Bangladesh to export $42 billion worth of garment products by the end of 2020.But in December last year, the garment manufacturers set out a target to hit $50 billion in exports by 2021.

Source: https://www.thedailystar.net/business/bangladesh-still-the-first-choice-apparel-sourcing-after-china-80350

A fire that ravaged a bicycle factory of Meghna Group in Gazipur has been put out after a frantic effort for two hours. What sparked the fire and the extent of damage could not be known immediately. Gazipur Fire Service’s Inspector Shaheen Alam said the ‘Transworld Bicycle Limited’ factory caught fire on Saturday afternoon.The factory’s Assistant General Manger Md Solaiman sai the fire originated from the assembly room and spiraled out of control in minutes.

Source: https://www.observerbd.com/2015/05/03/86755.php

Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) has extended its gracious cooperation to Nepal earthquake survivors, besides expressing profound sympathy for the victims. BGMEA President Atiqul Islam and Vice-President Shahidullah Azim yesterday handed over 200 cartoons with over 10,000 clothing products including shirts, pants, sweater, T-shirt, ladies pants and children dresses to the Nepal authority, a statement said yesterday. The relief materials went to Nepal in a flight of Bangladesh Airforce on Friday. “We have urged our members and other organisations to provide support as per their capacity to help earthquake survivors in Nepal,” said Azim. “We will continue our efforts to help the survivors and the first phase consignment has been placed to the authority.” Azim also said at present, the survivors need warm clothes, blanket, tents, plastic mats, drinking water, dry foods and medicine. The death toll of the earthquake that struck Nepal on Saturday has crossed 6,000 while a great many are still unaccounted for as the rescue team is yet to reach the hilly areas.

Source: https://www.dhakatribune.com/business/2015/may/03/bgmea-sends-aid-nepal-earthquake-survivors#sthash.W0VICbGp.dpuf

Bangladesh’s knit clothing exports to Japan are set to rise as Asia’s economic powerhouse has relaxed origination rules, industry people said. “… the government of Japan has relaxed the preferential rules of origin under the Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) for apparels and clothing accessories, knitted or crocheted (Chapter 61 of HS Code) effective from 1 April 2015,” the Embassy of Japan in Bangladesh said in a letter to the ministry of foreign affairs. “Under the new rule, the products classified in Chapter 61 of HS Code shall be qualified as originating goods if they were manufactured from yarns of textile fibres,” said the letter. “According to the new rule, knitwear exports from Bangladesh will enjoy GSP (zero tariffs) even if the knitwear product is made of imported fabrics,” Faruque Hassan, former vice president of Bangladesh Garments Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), told the FE about the new rule, known as single stage GSP. For further relaxation of GSP rules, local exporters will get more preference in Japanese market. It will also help knitwear items to grab more market shares in that country. In April 2011, Japan relaxed its GSP rules of origin from 2-stage to 1-stage for woven apparel and 3-stage to 2-stage for knitwear, Mr Hassan said, adding that now Bangladesh can export any RMG item (woven or knit) free of duty to Japan, even though the fabric is local or imported. “Japan is one of the most important non-traditional markets for Bangladeshi apparel products,” said Fazlul Hoque, former president of Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA). Some non-cotton knitted items have good demand in the Japanese market which Bangladesh earlier could not export under the GSP scheme as such fabric is not locally produced, he added. To grab more market shares there, he stressed the need for strengthening business-to-business communication. Jahangir Alamin, former president of Bangladesh Textile Mills Association (BTMA), said the new relaxation would not have any negative impact on local textile millers. “Rather exporters now will be able to import the fabrics that are not locally produced and add more value,” he said. Bangladesh’s readymade garment (RMG) export to Japan was only $ 74.33 million in the fiscal year 2008-2009, which now has reached $ 572.27 million in the fiscal year 2013-2014, the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) data showed.

Source: https://www.thefinancialexpress-bd.com/2015/05/03/91136

The government has selected 56 Commercially Important Persons (CIPs-Industry) for 2014 in recognition of their contribution in trade and economy, a senior official said. The CIP (industry) status recognises contributions of the awardees to industrial development, manufacturing, employment generation and economic upliftment. Industries Minister Amir Hossain Amu will hand over the CIP (industry) cards as chief guest on May 7 at a ceremony at Purbani Hotel in the city. “We selected 56 persons (CIP- Industry) under seven categories. Industries Minister Amir Hossain Amu will handover cards to them on May 7 at Purbani Hotel,” Jamal Abdul Naser Chowdhury, an additional secretary of the ministry of industries (MoI) told the FE Thursday. They were selected as per CIP (Industry) Guidelines 2012. The ex-officio twelve CIPs are President of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industries (FBCCI) Kazi Akram Uddin Ahmed, President of Bangladesh Chamber of Industries (BCI) AK Azad, President of National Association of Small and Cottage Industries Bangladesh Samity (NASCIB) Mirza Nurul Gani Swapan, President of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) Md Atiqul Islam, President of Bangladesh Employers Federation Tapan Chowdhury, President of Women Entrepreneurs Association of Bangladesh (WEAB) Nasrin Fatema Awal, President of Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA) AKM Salim Osman, President of Bangladesh Women Chamber of Commerce and Industries (BWCCI) Sangita Ahmed, Chairman of Bangladesh Jute Mills Association (BJMA) Mohammad Shams-Uz-Joha, President of Foreign Investors Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) Bangladesh Rupali Chowdhury, former president of Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI) Mohammad Shahjahan Khan and former president of Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI,) Bangladesh Rokia Afzal Rahman. . The MoI selected 21 persons in large scale industrial category while nine for medium scale industries, six for small industrial category, two for micro industry category , one in cottage industry category and 5 in service industry sector.

Source: https://thefinancialexpress-bd.com/2015/05/01/91003

The International Labour Organisation (ILO) has moved to introduce employment injury insurance scheme in Bangladesh in view of rising number of factory accidents in recent times, officials said. The move came after the deadly Rana Plaza collapse and Tazreen Fashions fires in the garment industry killed more than 1,200 workers, exposing the vulnerabilities of workers, they said. The insurance scheme, at the first stage, is aimed at covering workers of readymade garment industry (RMG), which will later be expanded into other factories, said a labour ministry official. The ILO will soon launch a feasibility study on the scheme and in this regard, a three-member delegation of the world body will visit Bangladesh next week to meet stakeholders including workers, employers and government agencies. “After the fatal incidents in Rana Plaza and Tazreen Fashions, the compensation process could be introduced in Bangladesh. Now, the ILO thinks that insurance coverage of workers against injury in workspaces should be there,” said an official. He said in most cases, owners insure only their factories and assets there. In some cases, it was found that an owner goes for insurance for one factory and some workers of a group of companies. “Now the ILO wants every worker of factories to be insured and get compensation in case of any incident,” he added. He said employers will be responsible to pay premium for the proposed injury scheme. Initially, a pilot project will be taken after consultation with workers, employers, and the government before making it compulsory. According to the draft terms of reference of the study forwarded by the ILO to the government, the scheme aims to provide workers temporary disability benefits, permanent disability and survival benefits, health care for injured and disabled workers as well as physical and vocational rehabilitation. Vice president of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) Shahidullah Azim told the FE Thursday that garment workers are covered under life insurance and they get compensation in case of incidents. He said if any worker is injured in workplace, the factory owner bears the treatment cost. “In case of death of any worker while on work, his or her heirs get Tk 0.2 million from insurance companies.” Mr Azim said life insurance of workers is mandatory for every factory to get services from the BGMEA as well as other benefits from the government. “The workers of garment factories in Rana Plaza and Tazreen Fashions were also covered by life insurance and they got compensation from the insurance company,” he said.

Source: https://www.thefinancialexpress-bd.com/2015/05/01/91001

The government has worked out a plan to minimise trade gap with China, a senior trade official said. The plan includes persuading China to give import licences to Chinese retailers, issue multiple visas to Bangladeshi businessman and arrange visits of increased Chinese trade delegations. It also includes seeking Chinese help in establishing fashion institutes in Bangladesh, local infrastructural development and taking part in increased international fairs held in China. The move comes at a time when trade gap with the world’s biggest economy hit a new high of US$ 6.0 billion, even if Dhaka gets duty-free benefits. “Despite having duty-free facility, our businessmen could not do well in boosting exports to China. But import from China is gradually increasing,” vice chairman of EPB Suvashis Bose told the FE. He said that this has prompted his agency to sit with relevant parties to find out ways on how to reduce the trade gap. “There is a good demand of Bangladeshi products in China, but there are certain reasons that hold back increasing exports to China,” he said. “If we can implement the recommendations, we hope, our exports to China will grow,” he said. “China is a friendly country and we hope our negotiation with the government will bring a positive result,” Mr Bose added. President of Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA) A. K. M. Salim Osman said if the recommendations are implemented, garment exporters would be able to increase exports, since China is importing clothes from different countries across the world. “China does not issue import licenses to the retailers, if the government can convince China to issue import license to them, then import from Bangladesh to that country will increase significantly,” he added. The BKMEA president also urged the government to facilitate local raw-material producers to lessen dependence on China, thus make local exporters more competitive in that country. An inter-ministerial meeting, held in February at the commerce ministry, empowered the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) to make recommendations on how to increase merchandise shipment to China, while also narrowing the trade gap. In the last financial year, Bangladesh imported goods worth $7.55 billion from China on the other hand local exporters have exported only $746.2 million worth of goods to the country. While China offers duty-free facility of 4,788 Bangladeshi products, it has urged Beijing to include 17 more items on the duty-free list. Raw jute, leather, frozen fish, Knit and oven garment, pet flex, Jute yarn, glass wear, copper wear, medicine, chemical items and textile fabrics are among the products that local exporters export to China. China, a major trading partner of the country, accounts for around 2.47 per cent of Bangladesh’s annual exports of $30 billion.

Source: https://www.thefinancialexpress-bd.com/2015/05/01/90997

The government of Bangladesh, Wal-Mart, J.C.Penney and The Children’s Place have been sued by victims and families of victims of a garment factory collapse that killed more than 1,000 people two years ago. The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Washington, claims the retailers and the government were aware of the unsafe conditions, according to US media.

When the eight-story building collapsed on April 24, 2013, 1,129 people were killed and about 2,515 people were injured. Many of the people were women and children. “Defendants knew, or with the exercise of reasonable diligence, should have known, that the Rana Plaza facility was not safe for human habitation,” said the lawsuit filed Thursday in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. The Bangladesh government breached its duty to its citizens by failing to properly inspect the building, failing to ensure compliance with local construction standards and failing to ensure the safety of factory workers, the lawsuit said. Retail defendants breached their duty to workers in the building, the lawsuit claims, by failing to implement standards and oversight mechanisms designed to ensure the health and safety of workers who manufactured clothing for their stores.

Source: https://www.dhakatribune.com/business/2015/apr/29/rana-plaza-victims-sue-bangladesh-govt-wal-mart-jc-penney#sthash.QDAGYKxt.dpuf