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BGMEA to protest against EU's 'GSP Plus' status for Pakistan
25 Nov '11
2 min read
To protect the domestic industry, garment producers from Bangladesh have decided to strongly protest against Pakistan's request for earning a 'GSP Plus' status that would enable it to ship all its products duty-free to the EU member nations from 2014.
The GSP Plus status is conferred upon least developed countries (LDCs), which allows them to duty-free export their products to the EU nations.
Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) President, Shafiul Islam Mohiuddin, said it is not possible for them to back Pakistan's plea for earning the GSP Plus status, as doing so would negatively impact Bangladeshi garment industry.
Pakistan has demanded the benefit citing that the country has suffered ruinous floods and political chaos.
Mr. Islam stated that granting the status to Pakistan would wipe out all the differences between the developing countries and LDCs.
The BGMEA chief said the garment manufacturers had earlier backed the Government's move of supporting Pakistan's plea for earning duty-free entry for its 75 products to the EU market with some stipulations, but now they cannot support Pakistan's plea for earning the GSP Plus status.
Mr. Islam, who is also the President of the Bangladesh-German Chamber of Commerce and Industry, requested Germany, a leading member of the EU, to further consider and deliberate on the matter before conferring duty-free access to 75 Pakistani items to the Eurozone.
He stated that over the past three years Bangladesh has advanced from its position as eighth largest exporter of garments to Germany, and now positions itself at third position, after China and Turkey.
The GSP Plus status is conferred upon least developed countries (LDCs), which allows them to duty-free export their products to the EU nations.
Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) President, Shafiul Islam Mohiuddin, said it is not possible for them to back Pakistan's plea for earning the GSP Plus status, as doing so would negatively impact Bangladeshi garment industry.
Pakistan has demanded the benefit citing that the country has suffered ruinous floods and political chaos.
Mr. Islam stated that granting the status to Pakistan would wipe out all the differences between the developing countries and LDCs.
The BGMEA chief said the garment manufacturers had earlier backed the Government's move of supporting Pakistan's plea for earning duty-free entry for its 75 products to the EU market with some stipulations, but now they cannot support Pakistan's plea for earning the GSP Plus status.
Mr. Islam, who is also the President of the Bangladesh-German Chamber of Commerce and Industry, requested Germany, a leading member of the EU, to further consider and deliberate on the matter before conferring duty-free access to 75 Pakistani items to the Eurozone.
He stated that over the past three years Bangladesh has advanced from its position as eighth largest exporter of garments to Germany, and now positions itself at third position, after China and Turkey.
Fibre2fashion News Desk - India
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