Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed Tuesday said the government was going to further reduce tariffs on fire and structural safety products imported to Bangladesh in the ensuing budget for the Fiscal Year (FY) 2014-2015.
"The government will remove import taxes on fire and structural safety products in the upcoming budget so that entrepreneurs can import those goods to ensure safety in the factories," he said replying to a question at a joint press conference held at a city hotel.
In the outgoing budget, import duty on fire safety equipment has been lowered to 5 per cent from the existing 10 to 15 per cent, with a view to ensuring fire safety in the ready-made garment (RMG) units.
This year the apparel industry leaders demanded a duty waiver for import of building and fire safety equipment in the next budget to ensure safer working condition at RMG factories.
Besides Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed, visiting Netherlands Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation Lilianne Ploumen, Dutch envoy to Bangladesh Gerben de Jong and Senior Commerce Secretary Mahbub Ahmed were present at the press conference.
The minister said around 1500 RMG factories had already been inspected, of which only 19 had been referred to the review panel for further assessment which was less than the global average of 2 per cent.
"There is a global standard that 2 per cent factories remain vulnerable in any country, and in our country the number is less than 2 per cent which certainly proves we are in a better position," he said.
He added the rest of the labour inspectors would be recruited with utmost priority through a fast-track process.
The visiting Dutch minister said she would take initiatives and hold discussion with European Union partners and brands so that the brands left out join the compensation process.
"In the coming weeks we'll make an analysis of the exact situation, and you'll see some actions in coming weeks or months," she said while replying to a question whether the Accord platform would join the compensation process.
She added the slow progress in disbursing compensation to Rana Plaza victims due to fund shortage obscured all the good things happening in Bangladesh's readymade garment sector.
She informed they would interact with the stakeholders and meet the European Union (EU) colleagues to see what they could do jointly to reach out to the companies that have not or insufficiently pledged funds and encourage them to do so.
The Rana Plaza Trust Fund has collected US$ 17 million so far against a target of $40 million. Although 29 retailers had promised to contribute to the fund, only nine showed up so far.
The visiting Netherlands minister said the non-implementation of the compensation promise was overshadowing all the good things happening in Bangladesh.
Responding to a question, the Dutch minister said all the export-oriented factories have to be inspected properly to avoid Rana Plaza-like debacles in the future.
"Lots of things have been achieved in the last one year in Bangladesh's RMG industry, but some challenges remain that need to be addressed," she said.
Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed said there would not be market limitation anymore. "We will diversify our products and our markets," he said.
The minister said many new markets had been showing interest increasingly including Brazil, Argentina and Chile to import RMG products.
"Many countries are showing interest to do business with Bangladesh. Everybody is thinking of Bangladesh afresh with a positive outlook. No one is telling anything negative," he said.
The minister said he would visit Washington on June 11 and 12, and hold meetings with US officials, including the United States Trade Representative (USTR) and US Senators, including Robert Menendez. The pertinent issues including GSP (generalised system of preferences) would be discussed with them.
The Commerce Minister hoped that Bangladesh would get back the GSP benefit in the US market if the Congress revived the facility.
Mr Tofail claimed that Bangladesh had not been affected by the GSP suspension. Despite the suspension, exports increased by US$ 253 million until April.
Earlier, a closed-door consultative meeting was held at the same venue to reinforce the ongoing collaborative efforts aimed at improving the monitoring measures related to safe and dignified working conditions in the RMG sector.
British High Commissioner in Dhaka Robert Gibson, Australian High Commissioner Greg Wilcock and Deputy Chief of Mission at the US Embassy in Dhaka Jon Danilowicz were, among others, present.
The consultative meeting reiterated collective determination and engagement of Bangladesh and the Netherlands to continue to work together in improving the working condition for the Bangladeshi workers in the RMG industry.
Tariffs on fire safety products to fall further
FE Report | Published: May 28, 2014 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2026 06:01:00
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