EU relaxes rules of origin for LDCs
Thursday, 25 November 2010
FE Report
The European Union (EU) has simplified the rules of origin, paving the way for greater market access of developing countries including Bangladesh to its market.
The EU Regulation 1063/2010, revising the rules of origin for products imported under the generalised system of preference (GSP), was published Tuesday in the EU's official Journal, a press statement of the EU Delegation to Bangladesh said.
"The new regulation relaxes and simplifies rules and procedures for developing countries wishing to access the EU's preferential trade arrangements, while ensuring the necessary controls are in place to prevent fraud," it said.
"By updating the EU's rules of origin, we will help ensure that developing countries really benefit from the trade preferences on offer to them and that the world's poorest don't lose out to unnecessary complexities in our systems," the statement said, quoting Algridas Semeta, the European Commissioner for Taxation, Customs, AntiFraud and Audit said.
The EU Delegation to Bangladesh, however, said the new rules will open up its market for items assembled in Bangladesh.
"The new rules will open up new opportunities for Bangladesh to expand its exports," it said.
It further said the new regulation will considerably simplify the rules of origin so that they are easier for exporters in developing countries such as Bangladesh to understand and to comply with.
"Bangladesh' exporters have been really looking forward to this change," said Andrew Barnard, the Head of the Political, Trade and Information Section of the EU Delegation to Bangladesh.
"Under the EU's new rules, 'Everything But Arms' scheme , Bangladesh already enjoys quota-free and duty-free access to EU market for most of its exports. But from January, 2011, it will be easier for them to make much greater use of imported inputs," said the EU delegation.
The official said this reform has been much-anticipated in Bangladesh because it will significantly improve market access to the EU market for readymade garments.
Clothes made in Bangladesh will from January 2011 have duty-free access to the EU market even if they are made of imported textiles, the official mentioned.
Importantly, for the economy's long-term development, the new rules should also help Bangladesh diversify its exports because the threshold for value-addition for industrial products is to be reduced from 70 per cent to 30 per cent, the press statement revealed.
Meanwhile, the country's major exporters see the new EU Regulation as a 'greater opportunity' for boosting the country's exports to its biggest market.
"It (the new rules) is a big development for our exports … it will defiantly give our exports, especially the woven items, a further boost to the EU market," President of the Bangladesh Garment Manufactures and Exporters Association (BGMEA) Abdus Salam Murshedy told the FE in his instant reaction to the EU's new regulation.
Terming the EU as the largest market for Bangladesh, he said exports of readymade garments to EU account for nearly 59 per cent of the country's overall exports.
The European Union (EU) has simplified the rules of origin, paving the way for greater market access of developing countries including Bangladesh to its market.
The EU Regulation 1063/2010, revising the rules of origin for products imported under the generalised system of preference (GSP), was published Tuesday in the EU's official Journal, a press statement of the EU Delegation to Bangladesh said.
"The new regulation relaxes and simplifies rules and procedures for developing countries wishing to access the EU's preferential trade arrangements, while ensuring the necessary controls are in place to prevent fraud," it said.
"By updating the EU's rules of origin, we will help ensure that developing countries really benefit from the trade preferences on offer to them and that the world's poorest don't lose out to unnecessary complexities in our systems," the statement said, quoting Algridas Semeta, the European Commissioner for Taxation, Customs, AntiFraud and Audit said.
The EU Delegation to Bangladesh, however, said the new rules will open up its market for items assembled in Bangladesh.
"The new rules will open up new opportunities for Bangladesh to expand its exports," it said.
It further said the new regulation will considerably simplify the rules of origin so that they are easier for exporters in developing countries such as Bangladesh to understand and to comply with.
"Bangladesh' exporters have been really looking forward to this change," said Andrew Barnard, the Head of the Political, Trade and Information Section of the EU Delegation to Bangladesh.
"Under the EU's new rules, 'Everything But Arms' scheme , Bangladesh already enjoys quota-free and duty-free access to EU market for most of its exports. But from January, 2011, it will be easier for them to make much greater use of imported inputs," said the EU delegation.
The official said this reform has been much-anticipated in Bangladesh because it will significantly improve market access to the EU market for readymade garments.
Clothes made in Bangladesh will from January 2011 have duty-free access to the EU market even if they are made of imported textiles, the official mentioned.
Importantly, for the economy's long-term development, the new rules should also help Bangladesh diversify its exports because the threshold for value-addition for industrial products is to be reduced from 70 per cent to 30 per cent, the press statement revealed.
Meanwhile, the country's major exporters see the new EU Regulation as a 'greater opportunity' for boosting the country's exports to its biggest market.
"It (the new rules) is a big development for our exports … it will defiantly give our exports, especially the woven items, a further boost to the EU market," President of the Bangladesh Garment Manufactures and Exporters Association (BGMEA) Abdus Salam Murshedy told the FE in his instant reaction to the EU's new regulation.
Terming the EU as the largest market for Bangladesh, he said exports of readymade garments to EU account for nearly 59 per cent of the country's overall exports.