Bangladesh gets duty- and quota-free access to Canada for all goods except a few items like dairy, egg, poultry and farm products from today.

The general declaration for duty-and quota-free access to Canada for all least developed countries (LDCs) came in last June.

But a formal Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between the two countries making the decision effective yesterday. Commerce Secretary Sohel Ahmed and Canadian High Commissioner in Dhaka Gerry Campbell signed the MoU on behalf of their respective countries.

Minister for commerce Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury, State Minister Barkat Ullah Bulu and other high officials representing both the countries were present during the

signing ceremony at the ministry.

Bangladesh hopes that its export to Canada would grow by about 200300 million dollars annually due to this duty free and quota free facilities.

The commerce minister termed the facilities as a big success of the government's diplomatic efforts.

"We had to go for strong lobbying as there were some propaganda against us. A vested quarter had tried prevent Bangladesh from the facilities," Khosru said while talking to some newsmen.

He observed that the duty and quota free access to Canada would help Bangladesh in expanding its export items and open a new window for North American markets.

It would also help in lessening the country's export dependencies on the USA and Europe, he said. Beside garments and knitwear, export items in other sectors like

light engineering sector would get a boost, the minister added.

Bangladesh have maintained a good trade balance with Canada. During the 2001-2002 fiscal it earned $111.79 million from export to Canada and imported $47.79 million worth of goods from there.

The major export items to Canada include ready made garments, jute products, leather footwear, shrimp handicrafts, ceramic products, tents, carpets and printed materials.

The major import items from Canada to Bangladesh are live animals, animal products, vegetables products, prepared food items, mineral products, products of chemical and allied industries, plastic, paper and paper board, precious stones, machinery and transport equipment.