BD to seek duty-free access of 21 products to Sri Lanka

Bangladesh will seek duty-free market access of 21 products including apparels, cement and leather goods to Sri Lanka under preferential trade agreement (PTA) as the joint working group of two countries is meeting in the capital today (Tuesday), sources said.
Officials said Bangladesh will seek duty-free access of shirts, t-shirts, jersey, pullovers, cardigans, men's and women's trouser, various types of knitwear items, leather goods, plastic goods, white cement, battery, iron and still, paper and paper board, folding cartoons and box, bag and potato to the Sri Lankan market.
Besides, the two sides will discuss about removing tariff and non-tariff barriers which hinder bilateral trade.
According to officials, Bangladesh's pharmaceutical export to Sri Lanka is being hampered as the importing country asks for bioequivalence study report from the exporters for each drug. Bioequivalence study is very expensive and usually Bangladeshi pharmaceutical producers do not carry it out.
They said Bangladesh's fish export to Sri Lanka is also hindered as the country charges 13 per cent duty on imported fish. In the meeting, Bangladesh's trade officials will request their counterparts to reduce the duty to 5.0 per cent.
Officials said Sri Lanka is the top potential market after India for Bangladeshi exports among the SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) member-states. But bilateral trade between the two countries is still negligible.
They said trade can be increased through signing of various bilateral preferential agreements and investments.
A senior Ministry of Commerce (MoC) official said bilateral trade between the two countries has started gradually increasing after the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) insurgency in Sri Lanka ended. In 2010, the bilateral trade was US$48 million which reached $83 million in 2012, up by 73 per cent.
Sources said some 45 Sri Lankan companies have invested $292 million so far in Bangladesh under joint ventures.