Import regime ‘will threaten Bangladeshi textile jobs’

Date: 20/05/04

ENORMOUS job losses in the Bangladeshi textile industry could ensue once the EU applies a new regime to clothing imports from the south Asian state at the beginning of next year.

That is the warning from Annisul Huq, president of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association.

Out of a total of €4.3 billion clothing exports from Bangladesh last year, some €2.6 billion went to the Union. But their volume could fall dramatically if the EU decides to apply quota restrictions and tariffs next year.

The Union is required to revise the system currently in place because the World Trade Organization's Agreement on Textiles and Clothing expires on 31 December. This decade-long accord is a transitional arrangement designed to gradually adapt the worldwide clothing industry to normal trade rules, instead of bilateral quotas.

Unless the EU and US can guarantee significant access to their markets for Bangladesh, the industry is predicting catastrophic job losses because it would be unable to compete with other major textile manufacturers, especially China. Clothing constitutes more than 80% of exports from Bangladesh, while 85% of those working in the sector are women.

"If we lose 25% of our jobs, then that means you have 400,000 women on the street," said Annisul Huq. "We could have a total social disorder."

Because the UN recognizes Bangladesh as one of the 50 poorest countries in the world, it is eligible for the EU's Everything But Arms scheme, which gives a range of products from those states duty-free access to the Union's markets.

As things stand, though, Bangladeshi garments are ineligible for the scheme due to the 'rules of origin' on which it is based, as the country currently imports 90% of the fabric it uses in its textile industry. Huq's organization is pressing for the EU to follow the example shown by Canada, which requires that just 25% of value has to be added in a garment's country of export to have duty-free market access.

• Primary Source

http://eeas.europa.eu/bangladesh/index_en.htm http://eeas.europa.eu/bangladesh/index_en.htm

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