Germany slaps 12pc duty on local textiles over quota 'misuse'

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The European GSP facility for Bangladeshi textile products has been 'misused', prompting Germany to slap 12 per cent import duty on Bangladeshi products in case of suspected shipments, said a German Embassy official Sunday, reports bdnews24.com.
"A large number of documents pertaining to the general system of preferences were falsified," said Holger Fraider, economic and press counselor of the German Embassy in Dhaka.
"Somebody took advantage of the facilities. Therefore, the German Finance Ministry imposed the 12 per cent duty (for suspected shipments)," he said at a press conference on German Textile Machinery Technology symposium.
The official said, Bangladesh government was expected to send a delegation to the European Union (EU) and Germany to resolve the issue.
He said, some positive events took shape in Bangladesh for continuing the preferential facilities for textile products in the European markets.
"The EU can withdraw restrictions on the textile products from China sometimes in 2008. Therefore, Bangladesh will have to ensure quality of their textile products to survive in the European markets."
Ragner Strauch, director of export marketing of German Textile Machinery Association (VDMA), told the conference that the two-day symposium would be inaugurated by Industry Adviser Geetiara Safiya Choudhury on Nov 26 at Sonargaon Hotel.
Strauch said, Bangladesh's textile market was expanding fast, and there is a huge demand for quality textile machinery from Germany.
"Bangladesh was expected by many to become a loser of the termination of the textile quota system in 2005. Quite contrary to those pessimistic forecasts, the textile industry of the country has seen an upward trend since 2006," Strauch said.
"Our fantastic 2006 exports to Bangladesh, worth nearly 60 million euro, are just another proof of Bangladesh's efforts to meet the requirements of the post-quota era," he said.