BD to raise issue with US at TICFA meet

Dhaka is set to urge Washington to give its nod on extension of trade benefit to the least developed countries (LDC) after their graduation.
Next meeting of the Trade and Investment Cooperation Forum Agreement (TICFA) is scheduled to be held in Dhaka on August 25-26, where Bangladesh would place the proposal bilaterally to the US, officials said.
The main agenda of LDC group in the 12th Ministerial Conference (MC12) of the WTO, held in Geneva, Switzerland on June 12-17, remained sidelined, as the mighty member US opposed to offer such trade benefit in a blanket form, said the officials - who attended the WTO meeting.
Bangladesh is scheduled to graduate from LDC to a middle-income country in 2026.
The Ministry of Commerce (MoC) is now taking preparations to convince the US counterpart to allow Bangladesh along with other graduating LDCs enjoy the trade benefit.
A team, led by Assistant US Trade Representative (USTR) for South and Central Asia Christopher Wilson, is scheduled to visit Bangladesh.
However, international trade experts said taking initiatives to hold bilateral talks with other countries is also necessary along with talks with the US.
Professor Dr Mustafizur Rahman, distinguished fellow at the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), said it is highly unlikely that the US would be convinced in bilateral meeting with Bangladesh, as the country remained rigid on this issue in the MC12 general discussions.
"Bangladesh should try to hold bilateral talks with other countries, like Japan, Canada and India, to extend trade benefit, so that references could be created like the EU."
It has been learnt that the US is not willing to offer trade benefit in a blanket form. Even in the MC12, the large member country's opposition kept the issue pending, he also said.
Offering trade benefit on the basis of need analysis on specific areas would hurt Bangladesh's various sectors, including patent benefit for pharmaceuticals sector, he added.
MoC WTO Cell Director General Md Hafizur Rahman said the MC12 output created a path for the LDCs, as all the WTO members reached a consensus that the graduating countries would need some sort of support to overcome the challenges of graduation.
"We will now prepare to conduct bilateral discussions with the WTO members for pressing the graduating LDC group's demands," he added.
In the MC12, some large members of the WTO preferred country-specific extension of trade benefit for the LDCs after graduation.
Bangladesh, however, was not in favour of country-specific benefits and demanded similar benefit for the LDC group.
The MC12 adopted the 'Geneva Package', where a number of issues, including fisheries subsidies, came into focus which would benefit the LDCs.
Mr Rahman said fisheries subsidy agenda is important for Bangladesh, but only 35 to 40 per cent of it is covered in the MC12.
He, however, said the MoC is preparing to press the unmet agenda after a review in the next WTO conference.
In different bilateral talks, meetings and partnership dialogues since 2015, Bangladesh has been urging the US to reinstate the GSP facility. In 2018, Dhaka formally requested Washington to restore the trade benefits.
The US scrapped the GSP facility on ready-made garments exports of Bangladesh in 2013 after the Rana Plaza disaster, citing serious shortcomings in labour rights and workplace safety.

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