Chinese exporters abuse Bangladesh's name to get access to US market

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Doulot Akter Mala
Chinese-origin apparel items have been shipped to the United States, tagged with 'made in Bangladesh' label, to avoid being barred from the world's largest market, the US customs said.
The US Customs and Border Protection Authority (CBP) informed Bangladesh about the malpractice after it identified "a number of such cases in which goods originating in China were claimed to be of Bangladeshi origin."
"From October 2007 to February 01, the CBP has seized apparel valued at close to $1.0 million claimed to be of Bangladeshi origin, but actually originating in China," it said
"Six more shipment, valued at $500,000, have been identified as not having originated in Bangladesh, and CBP is in the process of requesting their redelivery and pursuing penalties against the US importers," it added.
A CBP team would now visit the country later next month to investigate whether the "Chinese exporters are using Bangladeshi exporters name to avoid quota restrictions on their items."
The United States have imposed caps on Chinese apparel exports worth billions of dollars in 2005, immediately after withdrawal of the multi-fibre arrangement in garments trade.
Under the caps, the world's largest apparel exporter China can only increase its exports to the United States, the world's largest market, by 7.5 per cent year-on-year until 2009.
"It is possible that legitimate Bangladeshi manufacturers names are being used to circumvent quota restraints from China when a Bangladesh origin claim is made," the CBP said.
Bangladesh embassy in the Washington D.C has forwarded the letter, expressing 'deep concern' over the flawed practice and requested the authorities here to organize the visit by the CPB team.
"The CPB would like to work with Bangladeshi authorities to determine whether the manufacturers claimed to have produced the goods actually exist, and if they do, whether those manufacturers are capable of producing the goods as claimed," CBP textile division director Janet Labuda wrote in the letter.
The CBP will also explore "the increase in importations from Bangladesh of commodities that would be subject to quota if they had been produced in China."
"CBP would also like to ensure that these increases are the result of production in Bangladesh," she said.
Kazi Md Shamsul Alam, Bangladesh ambassador to US, has requested the authorities and the trade bodies to cooperate the CBP team, saying it would remove negative perception about the country's export.
"EPB and customs officials should accompany the CBP delegation during the visit to factories to avoid any misunderstanding as any negative perception on their part will create problem for country's export," Alam wrote in a letter to commerce ministry.
The president of garments manufacturers association said they were taking the issue 'seriously'.
"This is the first time, the US has expressed its concern over the issue. We have to seriously look into the abuse of the GSP facility that we enjoy in the US market." BGMEA president AnwarUl Alam Chowdhury Parvez said:
"The government should take serious action if local manufacturers are found to have helped the Chinese exporters using Bangladesh's name," he said.
President of knitwear manufacturers association rejected any involvement of Bangladeshi exporters in the malpractice.
"Bangladesh is not involved in the malpractice. The US team's visit to country's textile industries will help resolve the issue," Fazlul Haq said.