Bangladesh to attend hearing in Turkey next week on proposed apparel duty

Bangladesh will participate next week in a hearing on imposition of duty on apparel imports by the government of Turky to save the latter's domestic industry, Ministry of Commerce (MoC) officials in Dhaka said last Wednesday. The Turkish government officials earlier stated that their country's apparel industry was being hard hit since imported goods were flooding the market. Since January this year, Turkey has been investigating the issue and has proposed increasing the import duty by 27 per cent. At present, export goods from the least developed countries (LDCs) enjoy zero duty status while entering Turkey's market while those of developing countries pay, 9.6 per cent and developed countries, 12 per cent as duties. Commerce ministry officials said imposition of 27 per cent duty on the LDC exports will hard hit Bangladesh's export to the country. Bangladesh exported apparel worth US$970 million to Turkey in fiscal 2009-10. Turkish buyers like Collins, Tema, Mevi, Collizione, Defactor, Mevi Jeans, Cons Jeans, Akin Textile and Alkan Tex mainly import apparels from Bangladesh. Before imposing the safeguard measure, a bilateral hearing will be held in Ankara on March 07-08 where a six-member government and private sector delegation from Bangladesh, headed by commerce secretary M Ghulam Hossain, will attend. The hearing, comprising four sessions, will first receive opinions from professional institutions in Turkey, followed by the presentation of views by the government representatives of exporting countries. The Turkish apparel producers, importers and overseas exporters will argue on their positions in the third and fourth sessions. Participants in the hearing will have to submit their arguments, in written form, by March 18 for consideration. Director General, World Trade Organisation (WTO) Cell of the Ministry of Commerce Amitava Chakraborty told the FE Wednesday Turkey has to prove that import duty on apparels has increased significantly. "The imposition of duty by Turkey on apparel imports from the LDCs will hit a blow to Bangladesh's export there. The government is taking necessary steps in this connection," he said. Talking to the FE Wednesday, president of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) Abdus Salam Murshedy said Bangladesh's apparel export to Turkey saw nearly 100 per cent rise last fiscal and the duty increase will be a deterrent to exports in the future. "Turkey is very friendly with Bangladesh. I hope they will consider bilateral relations with the LDC before imposing the duty", he observed. BGMEA director Arshad Jamal (Dipu), who will represent the apex trade body in the hearing, told the FE that Turkey was a distribution hub to the European nations. "The duty won't harm the consignments to be transited through Turkey. But those destined for Turkey's market will face problem since the duty at the rate of 27 per cent is quote high. High valued items will mainly experience the blow," he said.