Dhaka will press for removal of various kinds of barriers that are hindering its trade as the joint consultative commission of Bangladesh and India is meeting next week in New Delhi, official sources said.
This is for the third time the commission is going to sit to discuss bilateral issues, mainly relating to trade affairs. Foreign Minister Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali will lead the Bangladesh delegation in the meeting to be held from September 18 to 21.
According to officials, Bangladesh will raise the issues like non-tariff and para-tariff barriers that are affecting its export, Indian non-recognition of certificates issued by Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institution (BSTI), bilateral cooperation agreement between BSTI and Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), and removal of countervailing duty of readymade garment (RMG).
Besides, Dhaka will attach importance to development of infrastructure, port restriction, non-payment of dues by Indian company Liliput Kids-wear, deployment of a phyto-sanitary officer in India's Changrabanda, synchronised working days at the land ports, and LC stations, and decongesting of Benapole-Petrapole land ports.
The Bangladesh side will also raise the issues including agreement on regulation of passenger and cargo vehicular traffic, shifting of Sabroom-Ramgarh LC stations, construction of Feni bridge, high supplementary duty on plastic goods imported by India, and jute bag marking issue.
A senior commerce ministry official told the FE though India has offered duty free access of all but 25 items of Least Developed Countries (LDCs) in 2011, Dhaka's export to New Delhi failed to see any mentionable progress due to existence of various non-tariff and para-tariff barriers.
He said during the fiscal year (FY) 2010-11 Bangladesh exported goods worth US$512 million to India which slightly came down to $498 million in FY 2011-12, rose to $563 million in FY 2012-13 and $456 million in FY 2013-14.
The official said the ministry was investigating the reasons behind the export fall in last fiscal despite enjoying the duty free access to the Indian market. "I think supply side constraint of our exporters and non-tariff and para-tariff barriers of India led the export drop in last fiscal."
Another trade official said the National Accreditation Board Ltd (NABL) of India accredited the certificates issued by BSTI for 25 products in 2012 but the Indian agencies sill do not accept the BSTI certificates of those products.
He said in India local readymade garment (RMG) has to pay 12 per cent excise duty and to neutralise that the country imposed same amount as countervailing duty (CVD) on imported RMG. In March 2013 it withdrew the excise duty payable by locally produced RMG, but still realising the CVD on RMG imported from Bangladesh.
"The presence of 12 per cent CVD on imported RMG in absence of equivalent excise duty acts as a protective and para-tariff barrier for Bangladeshi export to India," he added.
The official also said export to India also faces hurdle due to infrastructural problems in various LC stations and land ports. He said Indian side wants to develop LC stations and ports on the basis of volume of trade instead of developing all of those at once. "So, the under developed LC stations and land ports create barrier in raising export to India."
According to him, India has imposed port restriction in case of Bangladesh's export of electronics and motor bikes through Meghalaya, West Bengal, Assam, and Tripura borders. Even the Indian authority does not accept quality certificate issued by Bangladesh Road Transport Authority.
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