Bangladesh to benefit as EU relaxes rules of origin

[pampango]

Source: Reuters

Bangladesh will benefit from the European Union's relaxation of its rules on the origin of imported goods, due to take effect from January 1, a business leader said on Saturday. A news release issued by the EU's Dhaka office said the changes would allow duty-free access for many more items assembled in Bangladesh from imported components.

The regulation relaxes and simplifies the rules and procedures for developing countries such as Bangladesh. The new rules suggest that clothes made in Bangladesh will have duty-free access to the EU market even if they are made of imported textiles.

The threshold of value addition for industrial products will be reduced to 30 percent from a previous 70 percent -- so that even with up to 70 percent of foreign input, a product could still be viewed as originating in Bangladesh, the EU release said.

Bangladesh exported more than $16 billion worth of products in the fiscal year to end-June 2010 and ready made garments account for more than 80 percent of total export earnings with 60 percent of overseas sales made in EU markets.

Read more: http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKTRE6AQ0SC20101127