The government will meet stakeholders again on February 3 as the major parties have failed to reach any consensus on the exclusion of the yarn-import bond facility.
The parties are the Bangladesh Textile Mills Association (BTMA), the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), and the Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA).
The next meeting would take place at the Ministry of Finance at the secretariat, a relevant source told The Financial Express, adding that the finance adviser and other stakeholders were expected to be present.
The decision to convene the follow-up meeting was made at an emergency meeting between the commerce adviser and leaders of BTMA, BGMEA, and BKMEA at the secretariat on Tuesday, the source added.
The commerce ministry called the emergency meeting to discuss the pressing issue.
The meeting lasted for more than two hours until 8:00pm, according to sources.
Disagreements persist between textile millers and apparel exporters after the Ministry of Commerce sent an official instruction to the National Board of Revenue (NBR) to suspend duty-free import benefits for specific counts of yarn under the bonded warehouse scheme.
Commerce Adviser Sk Bashir Uddin presided over the meeting, while BTMA President Showkat Aziz Russell, BGMEA acting president Salim Rahman, BKMEA Executive President Fazlee Shamim Ehsan, Commerce Secretary Mahbubur Rahman, NBR Chairman Abdur Rahman Khan, Finance Division Additional Secretary Rahima Begum, and Bangladesh Trade and Tariff Commission acting chairman Md Abdul Gafur were present in the meeting.
During the discussion, the BGMEA acting president said apparel exporters had argued that if the government excluded certain yarn categories from the bond facility to prevent duty-free imports, it would primarily affect yarns used by exporters and could undermine the competitiveness of Bangladesh's apparel industry.
"As a result, several buyers may shift to other sourcing destinations as the exclusion of the bond facility will increase production costs," he added.
On the other hand, the BTMA president argued in favour of implementing the commerce ministry's instruction in line with the tariff commission's recommendations.
He also urged the government to make a decision that would create a win-win situation for all stakeholders.
Besides, he requested an increase in cash incentives on local yarn to make it competitive with imported yarn, noting that the Indian government had offered incentives to reduce the cost of their yarn.
Fazlee Shamim Ehsan told The Financial Express, "In line with the BTMA president's request, we have urged the government to increase cash incentives for spinners to make them competitive with imported yarns."
He added that the next meeting would consider the total required cost and the related financing issues if the government decided to provide further cash incentives.
Earlier, the government had cut cash incentives twice, citing that it would not be able to continue them after Bangladesh's graduation from the least developed country (LDC) category.
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