By NNN-BSS
Dhaka : Bangladesh and the European Commission (EC) on Wednesday agreed to pursue closer co-operation in the WTO Doha Development Round (DDA) negotiations with a view to securing a successful conclusion by early 2008.
The agreement was reached at the third meeting of the Specialized Sub-Group on Trade Development, Capacity Building and Economic Co-operation of the EC-Bangladesh Joint Commission at the ministry of commerce here.
The meeting was co-chaired by the head of the EC delegation in Dhaka, Dr Stefan Frowein, and the joint secretary of the foreign trade agreement wing of the ministry of commerce, Md Abdul Wahab Mian, according to a press release.
The talks took place in a cordial and constructive atmosphere and appraised policy and programme developments in the trade field since the last Bangladesh-EC Joint Commission meeting in March 2006.
The talks also tackled implements identified to Bangladesh’s export trade to EU Member States notably sanitary and phyto- sanitary (SPS) requirements and the lifting of EU safeguard measures on certain Chinese garment exports at the end of 2007.
The need to improve the utilization rate of the EU’s Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) by relaxing the Rules of Origin was highlighted by Bangladesh.
The EC shared with Bangladesh details of the draft proposed regulation reforming the rules of origin governing GSP, which should serve to boost Bangladesh’s RMG exports substantially. The draft regulation was presently under consideration by EU Member States.
The meeting considered environmental and social compliance standards in export sectors.
The ship-breaking industry was highlighted as a sector where progress was required to tackle poor working conditions. Bangladesh provided an update on the draft ship-breaking policy currently under consideration, the press release said.
Port reform, the proposal by the EC to repeal the Flag Vessels (Protection) Ordinance, and the need to secure mutual recognition of competence for seafarers were other shipping related issues discussed.
Bangladesh expressed particular concern at the imposition of special measures by Germany with respect to RMG exports, which could prove highly damaging to the industry.
Bangladesh suggested that fraudulent practices could be controlled through other means and also emphasized the need for investigation at the importers end.
The substantial support extended by the EC to trade related projects was also assessed, with 50 million euros envisaged for trade-related technical assistance in the period 2007-13, the press release said.
Abdul Wahab Mian said he was encouraged by the constructive and fruitful discussions which have taken place in the year’s session of the Bangladesh-EC Sub-group on trade and economic development.
“Bangladesh and the EC enjoy a shared vision on many trade issues and where, there are differences, we are confident that we can work together to address them,” he said.
Dr Stefan Frowein said the Bangladesh-EC Sub-groups are valuable forums for detailed exchanges on key issues of interest and concern.
“I am pleased that this year’s trade forum provided the occasion to set out to Bangladesh the proposed reforms in the rules of origin which govern Bangladesh’s duty-free and quota- free access to the EU,” he said.