Entry of Bangladesh goods to Indian markets
Friday, 16 April 2010
A section of businesses, representing both Bangladesh and India and speaking at a seminar jointly organised by the India-Bangladesh Chamber of commerce and Industry and the Confederation of Indian Industry early this week, made a projection that Dhaka's export would hit the billion-dollar mark by middle of the next year. And the Indian High Commissioner in Dhaka found the projection rather conservative and said it could be even more. To many, the projection, which is three-fold of what Bangladesh earned through exports to India in the last fiscal, might appear quite ambitious. This is particularly so in the context of the prevailing ground realities. One of those relates to the scarcity of exportable items that are on high demand in the Indian markets. The trade barriers, particularly of non- and para-tariff nature, to the entry of Bangladesh goods into the Indian markets is yet another point for consideration here. The speakers at the seminar listed a few items, such as apparels, leather goods, jute and bicycles, having the potential for entering the Indian market in a big way. But it is highly unlikely that the same would help Bangladesh to raise substantially its export earning within such a short time.
What is important for Bangladesh is the removal of all barriers -- tariff, non-tariff and para-tariff -- to facilitate the smooth entry of its goods into the Indian market. It also expects from India the treatment it rightly deserves as a least developing country (LDC) in accordance with the rules of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and the provisions of the South Asia Free Trade Agreement (SAFTA). An FE report published last Monday said the Bangladesh foreign ministry has sent a list of the non-tariff barriers to the Indian High Commission in Dhaka with a request to take appropriate follow-up actions to help remove the same sooner than later to ensure unhindered entry of Bangladesh goods to the Indian market. This request has been made, keeping in line with the agreement reached between the two countries during the recent visit of the Bangladesh Prime Minister, to India. The Indian Prime Minister had then assured his Bangladesh counterpart of removing obstacles, if there was any, to facilitate smooth entry of Bangladeshi goods to the Indian market.
The non-tariff barriers, as the businesses in Bangladesh have been pointing out, include the time-consuming and cumbersome process of issuing laboratory test reports for each and every consignment of food items, toiletries, leather and textile products and submission of the details of the rules of origin calculation by both Bangladesh exporters and Indian importers and sanitary import permits. Besides, inadequate physical facilities such as warehousing, tans-shipment yard, parking yard and parking yards and connecting roads at Indian customs stations, do also affect the flow of exports from Bangladesh to India. The ministry of commerce should have also made known its concern about 18 per cent additional tax recently imposed on exports from Bangladesh, including 8.0 million pieces of apparels that India had earlier committed to allow duty-free entry to its markets.
Other irritants to trade relations between the two close neighbours include para-tariff barriers, generally, erected by the governments of Indian states. The list sent by the ministry of commerce did not take up the issue on the ground that it was not the business of the Indian central government. But Bangladesh exporters have been complaining for long against different local level levies imposed by the Indian state governments on the importers there. The ground realities, as far as Indo-Bangladesh bilateral trade is concerned, do not, thus, match what the Indian leaders have promised about doing to facilitate easier access of Bangladeshi goods to the Indian market. The raising the value of exports from Bangladesh to India to $1.0 billion mark within a year or two would necessitate a change in approach on the part of both local exporters and the Indian authorities. Exporters would have to produce enough goods, at competitive prices, that are not on the Indian negative list. And the Indian government will also have to redeem its promise and offer facilities that Bangladesh deserves as an LDC under international and regional trade agreements.
What is important for Bangladesh is the removal of all barriers -- tariff, non-tariff and para-tariff -- to facilitate the smooth entry of its goods into the Indian market. It also expects from India the treatment it rightly deserves as a least developing country (LDC) in accordance with the rules of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and the provisions of the South Asia Free Trade Agreement (SAFTA). An FE report published last Monday said the Bangladesh foreign ministry has sent a list of the non-tariff barriers to the Indian High Commission in Dhaka with a request to take appropriate follow-up actions to help remove the same sooner than later to ensure unhindered entry of Bangladesh goods to the Indian market. This request has been made, keeping in line with the agreement reached between the two countries during the recent visit of the Bangladesh Prime Minister, to India. The Indian Prime Minister had then assured his Bangladesh counterpart of removing obstacles, if there was any, to facilitate smooth entry of Bangladeshi goods to the Indian market.
The non-tariff barriers, as the businesses in Bangladesh have been pointing out, include the time-consuming and cumbersome process of issuing laboratory test reports for each and every consignment of food items, toiletries, leather and textile products and submission of the details of the rules of origin calculation by both Bangladesh exporters and Indian importers and sanitary import permits. Besides, inadequate physical facilities such as warehousing, tans-shipment yard, parking yard and parking yards and connecting roads at Indian customs stations, do also affect the flow of exports from Bangladesh to India. The ministry of commerce should have also made known its concern about 18 per cent additional tax recently imposed on exports from Bangladesh, including 8.0 million pieces of apparels that India had earlier committed to allow duty-free entry to its markets.
Other irritants to trade relations between the two close neighbours include para-tariff barriers, generally, erected by the governments of Indian states. The list sent by the ministry of commerce did not take up the issue on the ground that it was not the business of the Indian central government. But Bangladesh exporters have been complaining for long against different local level levies imposed by the Indian state governments on the importers there. The ground realities, as far as Indo-Bangladesh bilateral trade is concerned, do not, thus, match what the Indian leaders have promised about doing to facilitate easier access of Bangladeshi goods to the Indian market. The raising the value of exports from Bangladesh to India to $1.0 billion mark within a year or two would necessitate a change in approach on the part of both local exporters and the Indian authorities. Exporters would have to produce enough goods, at competitive prices, that are not on the Indian negative list. And the Indian government will also have to redeem its promise and offer facilities that Bangladesh deserves as an LDC under international and regional trade agreements.