BD unlikely to backtrack from stance

Syful Islam Bangladesh is unlikely to backtrack from its position on the European Union's (EU) move to offer tariff concession to Pakistani apparel items in their market, a senior trade official said. "We are firm on our position regarding the issue since our apparel export will face a serious challenge, if the Pakistani goods are granted tariff concession while entering the EU market," Commerce Secretary Md Ghulam Hossain told the FE Monday. "Our proposal is either to remove the eight apparel items from the list of 75 items, or to offer the tariff concession up to 20 per cent of Pakistan's last year's export of the items to the EU market," he said. Bangladesh had expressed 'concern' to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) when the EU offered tariff concession to 75 Pakistani goods to enter its market enjoying zero-duty facility for the next two years. The EU offered the package to help Islamabad recover from the devastation of the 2010 floods. Of the eight items on which Dhaka raised its concern, four are in knitwear sector, three in woven sector and one in leather sector. Before Bangladesh expressed its concern over the issue, India had raised objection to the WTO, fearing that its goods would face uneven competition while entering the EU market in the event of Pakistan getting the EU concession. India and Pakistan are both categorised as developing countries, and their goods do not enjoy any tariff concession from the EU. The EU only offers tariff preference to the goods of the least developed countries (LDCs). This has been the 'principle' stand of the EU for long. In late September this year, India announced its withdrawal of the objection that it had earlier raised to the WTO in this connection. Following that development, Pakistan gave the Most Favoured Nation (MFN) status to India.