WEB DESK
Bangladesh will start receiving zero tariff facility on 97 percent of its goods exported to China under the Duty Free Quota Free (DFQF) scheme of WTO for the Least Developed Countries (LDCs).
The spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) Tohidul Islam told the Prasar Bharti Special Correspondent in Dhaka that Bangladesh will get this facility on 5161 additional items from July 1. Till now, 3095 commodities from Bangladesh have been enjoying zero tariff facility for export to China under the Asia Pacific Trade Agreement (APTA).
The duty free export facility is part of the Duty Free Quota Free (DFQF) scheme for the LDCs under the WTO rules of 2010. Initially China had granted this facility to 33 LDCs on 60 percent of its tariff line which was further extended to 95 percent of its tariff lines for LDCs in 2013. In the third phase, it was further extended to 97 percent of the tariff lines of China in 2015.
The facility was provided to the LDCs which completed the formal letter of exchange agreement with China. Bangladesh has now been extended the facility five years after China implemented it for some other LDCs in 2015.
Bangladesh was already enjoying zero tariff facility on a large number of its exports to China under the Asia Pacific Trade Agreement (APTA). Bangladesh will come out of the LDC category by 2024 when the benefits will cease after a certain period. Currently, there is a huge balance of trade imbalance between China and Bangladesh. In 2018-19, Bangladesh exported dollar 831 million worth items to China. Its import from China was in excess of dollar 12 billion.