Bangladesh has moved to raise the complications over the new Indian Customs Rules at highest level, preferably during Narendra Modi's Dhaka visit next month, sources said.
Before that, the issue will be discussed at the meetings of the joint working group on trade, and commerce secretaries of both countries this month.
The new customs rules, enacted in September 2020, have come as a fresh barrier to the export of Bangladeshi goods to India.
Traders, who want to avail duty-free export facility to India, are reportedly facing heightened complications with customs officials seeking increased documents in the name of checking country-of-origin certificates.
Amid this situation, commerce ministry last November requested India to withdraw the customs rules, fearing they will severely affect Bangladesh's export, especially in case of availing tariff preferences.
However, the plea failed to bring any positive result.
Trade officials said India has enacted the new policy mainly to administer the rules of origin under all trade agreements signed by the country.
The customs rules contradict the rules of origin of regional pacts like South Asian Free Trade Area, Asia Pacific Trade Agreement and the World Trade Organisation's duty-free quota-free scheme.
The new Indian rules have made it toughest for anyone obtaining tariff preference there, they said.
According to sources, trade officials of both countries will sit in a joint working group meeting in mid-February where the Bangladesh side will raise the issue to seek a solution.
Again, commerce secretaries will sit together on bilateral issues by the end of February where Bangladeshi officials will also raise the issue of new customs rules, they cited.
According to officials, the issue has already been enlisted for discussion through last week's bilateral foreign office consultation for the proposed Dhaka visit of the Indian premier in March.
"We'll describe point by point, how the new customs rules conflict with the rules of origin of other regional pacts," a trade official in Dhaka told the FE.
"Our export will be severely affected by the new rules," he mentioned.
For such heightened procedural difficulties, Centre for Policy Dialogue research director Dr Khondaker Golam Moazzem earlier said, Indian traders may feel discouraged to avail tariff preference, which may make Bangladeshi goods less competitive in their market.
He said the import cost of Indian traders will thus increase and they will look for alternative sourcing options to save time and money.
"It will cast a negative impact on the overall bilateral trade," Dr Moazzem told the FE.
In this case, commerce ministries of the two countries should sit together to determine a standard operating procedure to avoid such complications, he suggested.
