The fifth review of the trade policies and practices of Bangladesh started at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) secretariat in Geneva, Switzerland, on Wednesday.
Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi is leading the 16-member delegation of Bangladesh. On the first session on Wednesday, he delivered the opening statement, describing the latest development of Bangladesh economy as well as salient features of the country’s ongoing trade policies.
The WTO secretariat report on the trade policy of Bangladesh, also placed in the meeting, mentioned that the general thrust of the country’s trade policy has remained unchanged since the last policy review that took place in 2012.
It also pointed out that the tariff remains one of the main trade policy instruments and a significant source of tax revenue of the country. Over 95 per cent of tariff lines of Bangladesh are ‘ad valorem’ and therefore transparent, but the tariff involves 16 different rates.
Stephen de Boer, Canadian ambassador and permanent representative in the WTO, was the designated discussant of the meeting.
Being under review, Bangladesh has already received some 140 written questions from 18 members of the WTO and written answerers to most of the questions have also been submitted to the WTO secretariat before the meeting.
Bangladesh will formally answer all the questions on Friday, the second and last session of the meeting.
All the WTO members are subject to trade policy reviews, in which their trade and related policies are examined and evaluated at regular intervals. For the least developed countries (LDCs), the interval period is seven years.
The ongoing review is the last review of Bangladesh as an LDC, as the country is set to be graduated from the LDC category by 2024.
Earlier on Tuesday, the commerce minister met the WTO Director General Roberto Azevêdo at his office in Geneva.
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