Tofail seeks GSP restoration

Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed has requested US Congressman Steve Chabot to support Bangladesh for GSP restoration as well as granting duty-free market access of Bangladeshi apparels to the US market. In response, Chabot, also Chairman of the US Congress Sub Committee on Asia and the Pacific said he would keep on discussing with his colleagues in the US Congress over restoration of GSP benefit for Bangladesh. The issue came up for discussions during a meeting between them held in Washington recently, according to a message received here on Friday night. Earlier, the government submitted a progress report on ‘Bangladesh Action Plan 2013’ to the office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) for reviewing Bangladesh’s Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) benefits. The legal authorisation for the GSP programme expired on July 31, 2013 and the US Congress is considering a legislation that would extend the authorisation of GSP beyond this date, according to the USTR. Bangladesh’s main export apparels had always remained out of the GSP purview, subjecting garment makers to 15.61 percent duty in the US markets. Before GSP suspension, Bangladesh used to export 0.54 percent of its total export, or $26 million, under the GSP scheme to the US in a year.
During the meeting with Tofail, Chabot wanted to know about the January 5 elections in Bangladesh. In response, Tofail said it was a constitutional obligation for the government to hold the elections in time to ensure the smooth transition of democratic process, according to UNB.