Ticfa not ‘prejudiced’

The just signed Bangladesh-US bilateral Trade and Investment Co-operation Forum Agreement (Ticfa) cannot be ‘prejudiced’ to any other laws, rights and obligations of either party.

“The agreement shall be without prejudice to the law of either party or to the rights and obligations or privileges of either party under any other agreement,” read the article five of the much-talked about agreement.

The texts of the agreement, signed on Monday after more than a decade of wrangling, was made public on Tuesday in Bengali and English languages, both will be “equally authentic”.

The Acting Deputy US Trade Representative Wendy Cutler and Bangladesh’s Secretary of Commerce Mahbub Ahmed signed the agreement in the US Trade Representative (USTR) office at Washington.

The signing raised Bangladesh’s chances of getting back the suspended GSP privilege and also the duty-free market access of its main export item readymade clothes to the US.

But it will also allow the US to pursue intellectual property rights issue more vigorously than before, putting the thriving pharmaceutical industry into stiff competition as it will have to now pay for the patent of the American drugs which are now being manufactured under generic name.

Leftist groups have claimed if copyright law is implemented, it will turn into an economic and political tool for large US companies. The treaty will allow these companies to make unlimited profits.

The US said American investments in Bangladesh and the export of Bangladeshi products in the US market would be doubled, with the signing of the agreement.

The agreement contains seven articles that it said intended to promote “an attractive investment climate” in both the countries and to expand and diversify trade into products and services as well.

The USTR claims the TICFA provides a mechanism for both governments to discuss trade and investment issues and areas of cooperation.

“With this agreement, the US and Bangladesh will more regularly work together to address issues of mutual concern in our trade and investment relationship,” USTR Ambassador Michael Froman said.

“Importantly, we’ll also be able to track and discuss Bangladeshi efforts to improve worker safety and worker rights. This is an important priority for the United States as Bangladesh seeks to prevent further tragedies in its ready-made garment sector.”

According to the USTR, in the bilateral meeting following the TICFA signing, Bangladesh shared its progress to-date on addressing the various elements of the Action Plan.

Bangladesh is currently US’s 59th largest goods trading partner with $5.4-billion total bilateral goods trade during 2012.

The agreement also has an opt-out provision.

Under the article seven, any party can terminate the agreement with a written notice of termination to the other party.

The termination will come into effect on a date agreed upon by the parties. But if parties fail to come into an agreement, it will be automatically terminated 180 days after the date of notification.

More than 50 countries have signed Ticfa with the US, the US ambassador in Dhaka Dan Mozena earlier said while pursuing Bangladesh to ink the deal.

He said the forum would create a platform for discussing duty-free access of Bangladesh’s main export item readymade clothes to US market.