Haque Specialized Group's News

Indications are strong that the United Kingdom (UK) may tag labour issues with trade preferences to Bangladesh after completion of Brexit process. Officials said the hint came at a recent meeting between officials of the British Department for International Trade and the High Commission of Bangladesh in London. At the meeting, there was an emphasis on the improvement in labour standards, particularly in the RMG sector. A British trade official also indicated that future preferential scheme may be linked with labour standards, a recent letter from the commercial counsellor of the high commission to the ministry of commerce (MoC) said while referring to the meeting with Max Petrokofsky of the Department for International Trade. Mr Petrokofsky, who looks after preference issue and South Asia trade relations, attended the meeting along with his colleagues Paul Walters of the Department for International Development, and Tom Matlock of the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office. The HC officials at the meeting informed the British side that Accord on fire and building safety in Bangladesh, the Alliance, the International Labour Organisation (ILO), and the government have been working together on labour issues for the last few years and there had been remarkable progress in recent times. They argued that if the labour issue is tied to preference scheme, it might undermine the spirit of the benefit. Most of the African least developed countries (LDCs) will fail to comply with the requirements since they stand far behind in ensuring labour compliance. The delegation agreed with Dhaka's views and assured of working together in "ensuring maximum trade benefit" for Bangladesh. Presently, Bangladeshi goods enjoy duty-and quota-free market access to the UK under European Union's (EU's) Everything but Arms (EBA) scheme on preferential treatment to trade. On June 23 last year, nationals of Great Britain voted in a referendum for breaking away from the decades-old continental bloc, EU. At this point countries enjoying trade benefit in the UK under EU's EBA scheme were afraid of losing the facility.   Since the deadliest Rana Plaza incident, buyers of apparel products have been pushing for ensuring workplace safety and labour rights in Bangladeshi factories. The United States (US) has suspended generalised system of preferences (GSP) facility for Bangladeshi goods on its market while the European Union (EU) several times threatened similar action unless labour standards are ensured. Both the US and the EU have forwarded action plans to Bangladesh centring workplace safety and labour rights for implementation. The government has claimed that most of the action plans are being implemented. The Accord, the Alliance, the ILO and the government are working jointly on remediation works in garment-factory buildings. Talking to the FE a senior MoC official said the UK is one of the major export destinations by virtue of duty-and quota-free market access over there. In fiscal year 2015-16 Bangladesh exported goods worth US$3.2 billion to the UK, which accounted for 11.2 per cent of country's total export. He said if the UK tagged labour standard to the trade preference after completion of Brexit, Bangladesh's export to Britain may face some hurdles. As such, the Bangladeshi diplomats in the UK have been asked to keep close contact with British trade officials to ensure trade preference continues after Brexit and if any further facilities can be availed. Contacted over phone Friday, president of the Exporters Association of Bangladesh (EAB) Abdus Salam Murshedy told the FE as the price of British pound sterling fell significantly after the result of Brexit referendum, the exporters are counting major loss.  "It is true that in bilateral trade negotiations Britain may impose various conditions against granting preferences. But, we will expect that the country will continue with the similar preferences it has been offering us under EU's EBA scheme," he said. Mr Murshedy said Bangladesh met most of the conditions given by the US and the EU after the Rana Plaza incident. "Hopefully, with the ongoing remediation works and establishing compliant factories we will be able to meet any new conditions in the future."        syful-islam@outlook.com....

Published at: 2017-02-25 00:00:05

Soaring rice prices and lesser official stock of the main staple are forcing the country to raise dependence on wheat imports, which in turn is heightening pressures on its foreign-currency coffers, sources said. People familiar with food-grain imports told the FE that the import of wheat is set to hit a record high this year, while the volume had stood over 4.0 million tonnes in seven months to last January. The import costs were worth US$ 784 million for July-December 2016--up by $138 million from a year before. Bangladesh earlier usually had to import on average 3.0 million tonnes of wheat alongside a small amount of rice annually until the fiscal year 2014, but over the past two years it ranged around 5.0 million tonnes on average.     Importers hinted that private sector would import much higher this year as the demand for wheat is on the rise in the country. Growing change of food habit is also believed to be one of the key reasons for such higher demand for wheat. Besides, fast urbanisation and some 300,000 people, on average, joining the population each year are pushing up its demand. Officials at the directorate-general of food told the FE that importers are cashing in on lowest-ever prices on the international market while catering a growing demand for wheat in the country. They also expressed the fear that the prices of wheat may rise on the back of rising trend in fuel prices. Fuel prices impact the production of wheat globally and many then opt for biofuels. Biofuel is a fuel that is produced through contemporary biological processes, such as agriculture and anaerobic digestion, rather than a fuel produced by geological processes such as those involved in the formation of fossil fuels, such as coal and petroleum. Acting director-general of food Md Badrul Hasan told the FE that the fear of price-hike of the cereal is one of the key reasons fuelling such a surge in import. He said importers also stored low-priced wheat bought in from the international market. The price of wheat is believed to be the lowest in a decade with low-grade rate standing around $185 a tonne. And the rate of high-quality wheat, which comes from North American countries, stood over $250 a tonne. Earlier, super-quality wheat used to sell at around $500 and low-grade around $300 a tonne. The import price of wheat now is around Tk 17 a kilogram (kg). On the other hand, rice import costs more than Tk 36 a kg. People familiar with the developments on the food front told the FE that more than 5.0 million tonnes of wheat was imported in 2016 and this year the volume is expected to cross the mark.  Abul Bashar, chairman at Masud and Brothers trading house at Khatoonganj in the port city of Chittagong, said: "We believe that rice and wheat are close substitutes, and if the prices of rice remain high, then the demand for wheat will surge." "The demand was once around 10 per cent and now it's almost double at 20 per cent on a year-on-year basis," he told the FE. The businessman said the total imports are meant for consumption, excepting a meagre amount that goes for making poultry feed. On the other hand, local production of wheat remained static for long at 1.2 million tonnes as wheat farming relies heavily on sufficient low temperatures that the country lacks. Wheat stocks are also falling. In order to protect food security and sustain the price-support programme, the government-owned DG Food buys and stores a lot of country's wheat crops and rice. But the total amount held by the directorate has fallen in recent times. And the official stock was 0.94 million as against 1.55 million in July-January period. Of the stock, there are only 200,000 tonnes of wheat and the remainder is rice. People at the DG Food told the FE that the stock should stand at 1.0million tonnes.     jasimharoon@yahoo.com....

Published at: 2017-02-25 00:00:05

Members of Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) arrested an alleged terrorist along with one pistol and a magazine from Shikri village in Benapole port area under Jessore on Friday. The arrestee was identified as Sirajul Islam, 28, son of Shawkat Ali, a resident of Sharsha Shantapara village in Sharsha upazila of Jessore district. Tipped off, a team of the elite force raided the house of Mohammad Ali in Shikri area and arrested Sirajul while a gang of terrorists, including Sirajul, were trying to sell firearms around 3.35pm, said a Rab-6 member, reports UNB. However, other associates of Sirajul managed to flee the scene. The elite force also recovered the two firearms after searching his body. The arrestee was handed over to Benapole Port Police Station.  ....

Published at: 2017-02-25 00:00:05

Charge d affaires of Bangladesh Embassy to Libya Muhammad Mozammel Haque escaped narrowly being hit by a bullet at the Embassy while observing the second day programme of 'Amor Ekushey' on the embassy premises on Friday evening. Three bullets pierced the embassy wall, one was almost hitting him but missed for inches, a diplomat told UNB. The incident happened during a fierce fight between two rival groups, and a few mistargeted bullets landed on the embassy premises. "Actually, it was not any targeted hitting, and the bullet was uncharged and mishit. It actually fell on my feet. The Charge de affaires was present there," another official told UNB. "We all are safe ... anybody of our guests also could have been injured had it hit anyone's head," he added.  ....

Published at: 2017-02-25 00:00:05

Coastal Guard members here seized some 5,20,000 metres of current net and 90 maunds of polythene from Shimulia Ghat area on Friday. A group of people left behind the banned current net and polythene in a Khulna-bound bus locker on their way to Chandra, said M Ibrahim Khalil, the Contingent Commander (Mawa) of Bangladesh Coast Guard. As no one came to receive the net, the Coast Guard men seized the net, he added. The seized current net was burnt in front of the upazila fish officer at Mawa later.....

Published at: 2017-02-25 00:00:05