Published in Dhaka Tribune on Sunday, 27 April 2014.
Bangladesh poorly prepared for crucial Ticfa meeting
Sheikh Shahariar Zaman
Bangladesh would like to discuss two general issues – market access for goods and services, and market access for service
The government has decided to discuss only trade issue in the first Trade and Investment Forum Cooperation Agreement meeting while the US side has asked for more elaborate and specific agenda.
Bangladesh would like to discuss two general issues – market access for goods and services, and market access for service – in the first Ticfa meeting to be held tomorrow.
On the other hand, the US side wants to speak on nine specific issues: tariffs of fire, electrical and structural safety equipment; public tender specification; insurance; double fumigation (cotton); diabetic drugs; currency issue; delayed payment; intellectual property rights (IPR); and regional economic development.
The first line of the Ticfa stipulates: “Desiring to enhance bonds of friendship and spirit of cooperation, to expand trade and to strengthen economic relations between the parties.”
A Commerce Ministry official said four components – friendship, cooperation, trade and economic relations – are mentioned in the first paragraph, but Bangladesh would only be discussing trade issue in the Ticfa meeting.
Former ambassador Dr Toufiq Ali said the items for discussion indicated that the US side had detailed preparation, while the Bangladesh side did not.
“We may continue to face a great deal of problem with the Ticfa in future. For the first time, the US has a forum to take up issues and the Bangladesh side cannot avoid responding to them, whether in this meeting or later. The US will keep hammering them, and we will be in the defensive position,” he pointed out.
About the IPR, Ali said: “It will be suicidal for our people to concede on anything relating to the intellectual property rights.”
The least developed countries including Bangladesh got an exemption until 2021 regarding the IPR during a WTO negotiation in Geneva last year. A possible deal on the IPR with the US might result in paying more for the US-made software, copyright fee for films and music, royalty for books and other services.
Meanwhile, the Ticfa Labour Affairs Committee and the Ticfa Women’s Empowerment Committees must not be allowed to be formed as Bangladesh has done a great deal in these areas, Toufiq added.
“My experience with decades of negotiations with the US tells me that strong bargaining is required. One cannot give anything without getting something substantive in return. There is nothing substantive that the US is offering us here,” said the former permanent representative in Geneva where most of the WTO negotiations take place.
Distinguished Fellow of the Centre for Policy Dialogue Debapriya Bhattacharya told the Dhaka Tribune: “If we look at our agenda, it is obvious and general while the agenda of the US side is more elaborate and specific.”
He said: “One must be flexible enough to accommodate the issues but specific enough to achieve them.”
At the meeting, the government would discuss market access for goods and services and it is understandable that they would ask for duty-free and quota-free market access for textile products, Debapriya said.
“The Ticfa is a platform for review but there are immense possibilities for expressing our concern,” he said.
The jurisdiction of the Ticfa is limited but the issues raised in the meeting could be referred to concerned authorities of both the countries, he added.
“If the government raises the duty-free issue, the meeting can notify the concern of Bangladesh to the Congress, which will make decision on tariff and revenue,” Debapriya explained.
He said Washington wanted to talk about tariffs of fire, electrical and structural safety equipment as they wanted to export fire door and other equipment to Bangladesh.
In the first Ticfa meeting, the Bangladesh side will be led by Commerce Secretary Mahbub Ahmed while Assistant US Trade Representative for South and Central Asia Michael Delaney will lead the visiting side.
Bangladesh and the US signed the Ticfa on November 25 last year to promote bilateral trade between the two countries.
The legally “non-binding” agreement, which emphasises prohibition of protectionist trade policy, was signed after having a negotiation of about 12 years.
The US is the single largest export destination of Bangladeshi products with around $3.5bn export (about 15% of total exports), out of which about 90% is readymade garment goods.