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Dhaka for GSP lifting for states with 10pc market share in EU

Commerce ministry officials, business leaders decide

Star Business Report
Bangladesh is set to lobby for the withdrawal of generalised system of preference (GSP) facility on textile products for the countries attaining a 10 percent share in the European Union market.
As the EU members are going to make various changes in the GSP, including graduation from the facility, a commerce ministry meeting yesterday finalised Dhaka's stance in this regard.
The commerce ministry convened the meeting after Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA) proposed a
number of roles Bangladesh could play in the process.
With Commerce Secretary Siddiqur Rahman in the chair, President of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) Annisul Huq, BKMEA President Md Fazlul Hoque and other business leaders were presentatthe meeting.
Earlier in October 2004, EU released the draft of the revised GSP, which mentioned that the threshold would be 12.5 percent for textile products.
It implies that if a country's total textile export to the EU exceeds the above ratio, then the country's textile export would no more enjoy
any GSPfacility, which is known as 'graduation from GSP'. The provision is, however, subject to review in every three years.
The European Commision (EC) was of the opinion that by setting such benchmark, countries would be able to utilise the GSP facility better. The EC on July 7, 2004 set out principles that will guide the new GSP scheme for next ten years, as the current cycle ends on December 31,2005.
The guidelines for the new GSP for 2006-2015 had been said to target the LDCs and the most vulnerable developing countries, which include small economies, landlocked and low-income countries
and small islands.
The EC then proposed a simple and general GSP arrangement for the 'Everything But Arms' initiative that gives the world's 50 poorest countries duty-free and quota-free access to the EU market and a new GSP and tariff preference to countries with special development needs.
Bangladesh accounts for only 3.6 percent of the total volume of EU GSP imports and ranks eighth among the GSP beneficiaries after China (33.1 percent), India (11.5 percent) and Indonesia (4.8 percent). In 2002, EU imports under GSPamounted to 53.2 billion euro.