BD suggests changes in proposed TECF deal
April 27, 2011 00:00:00
Nazmul Ahsan
Dhaka has requested Washington to delete words like elimination of bribery and corruption, establishing labour rights, and compulsory adherence to the provisions of the intellectual property rights act (IPRA) from the proposed Trade and Economic Cooperation Forum (TECF) agreement, official sources said.
Bangladesh has, instead, proposed to replace uncontroversial words in place of bribery and corruption, and uphold the country's own laws on labour and environment issues and the exemption that it enjoys about the IPRA in accordance with the provision of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) accord.
The proposals were recently made to the US Assistant Trade Representative Michael Delaney, who during a visit to Dhaka held a discussion on signing the proposed TECF with the top Bangladesh trade officials on April 20.
"We have explained to the US why the "controversial" words in the proposed TECF should be replaced with some relevant soft words. The opposition political parties, business leaders and members of the civil society here have been repeatedly expressing their reservations on inclusion of those words, already present in the draft agreement," said a top official at the Ministry of Commerce (MoC).
"Delaney seemed to be convinced about our stance on the issue. However, settlement of any particular issue largely depends on the decisions of the top officials of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) and the US policymakers," he said.
A high-profile Bangladesh delegation, led by the commerce secretary, is expected to visit Washington at the end of next month to conclude the negotiation on the proposed agreement, the trade official added.
According to the sources, Dhaka proposed to insert words 'combating and preventing unlawful activities in international trade and investment' in place of 'elimination of corruption and bribery', as included in the draft agreement.
The Bangladesh trade officials also proposed to include 'enforcement of worker rights in accordance with each participant's own labour laws' in lieu of 'establishing labour rights.'
On IPRA, Dhaka proposed 'effective protection of IPRA as per the provision of WTO', instead of 'protection of IPR', for inclusion in the proposed TECF agreement.
The US submitted the draft agreement of TECF early 2010 after Bangladesh had expressed regret to sign the earlier proposed Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) for a number of its 'controversial' clauses, which, as Dhaka considered, might go against the interest of the country.
The WTO has exempted Bangladesh from maintaining the mandatory IPRA provision for products, other than pharmaceuticals, until 2013, and for pharmaceuticals products, until 2016.
The US is the single largest export destination of Bangladeshi goods with aggregate annual export receipts at above $4.0 billion which is about 40 per cent of Bangladesh's total annual export earnings.