Bangladesh Parliament Speaker urges US to restore GSP

Speaker Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury has made a strong case for the renewal of the General System of Preference (GSP) for Bangladesh.

She urged the restoration of the facility while speaking at an event hosted by the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) in Bangladesh at a Dhaka hotel on Thursday.

"All conditions set after the Rana Plaza incident have been met. But we are shocked to see that the GSP has not yet been restored," the speaker said while appealing to AmCham to cooperate with the Bangladesh government in renewing the trade concession.

Bangladesh used to enjoy duty-free access to the US market for around 5,000 items under the preferential trade scheme.

The trade benefits for Bangladesh were revoked in mid-2013 after the Rana Plaza building collapse and Tazreen Fashions fire, which left more than 1,200 people dead.

The US rolled out a 16-point action plan to improve working conditions.

The Bangladesh government has repeatedly stressed that all the recommendations have been complied with.

Washington acknowledges the progress made so far but says more needs to be done to get the privilege back.

The 2013 suspension, however, did not directly hit Bangladesh’s garment exports, as it was not among the 5,000 products that enjoyed the facility.

In 2012, Bangladesh’s export to the US stood at $34.7 million, which included tobacco, sports equipment, ceramic and plastic goods, with a tax waiver of around $2 million for exporters.

However, the US suspended the GSP facility in 2013 as its Trade Preference Act expired.

On June 29 last year, President Barack Obama signed the Trade Preferences Extension Act of 2015 after its clearance by the Congress.

Currently, all SAARC nations enjoy the trade benefit barring Bangladesh.