A lack of required testing facilities, believed to be a serious deterrent in export of both primary and manufactured products, is increasingly telling upon the prospects of export. This is more pronounced these days than in the past as the destination markets, especially those in the developed countries, are resorting to various trade barriers through stricter non-tariff measures on standards relating to, among others, sanitary and phyto-sanitary aspects.
While there is a dearth of well-equipped laboratories to test products prior to exports, the need for compatibility with the standards of overseas markets is yet another major hurdle affecting exports. This is to say, equipping the labs with proper human, technical and logistic resources is not enough to assure the exporters of entry of their products into the target markets. What is critically important is compatibility that can only be ensured through accredited agencies authorised to conduct tests as per strictly followed and monitored guidelines.
Accreditation is an international practice in which certification of competency along with authority or credibility is presented. Organisations that issue credentials or certify third parties about official standards are themselves formally accredited by accreditation bodies. The testing labs accredited to do the job are thus entrusted to ensure compliance with established technical requirements involving physical, chemical, forensic, quality and security standards. At the moment, there are testing labs in the country under various ministries, but lack of coordination, poor or deficient compliance of quality and technical standards set out by the BSTI (Bangladesh Standard Testing Institute) have resulted in a sense of uncertainty about the acceptance of their certification in overseas markets. The number of labs that are able to do the job well with proper international accreditation is few and is not in a position to cater to the requirements of a cross-section of products.
Bangladeshi products that currently face entry barriers due to testing inadequacies include pharmaceuticals, processed food products, spices, shrimps and frozen foods, leather and leather goods, to name a few. In the absence of the facility, local manufacturers are forced to send their products abroad for required tests and compliance certification which is very expensive and renders the exported products less competitive. As a result, exported products suffer due to a lack of proper testing and certification. The detection of lead by a US lab in turmeric exported some time ago by a Bangladesh company to the US is a case in point. Newspaper reports suggest that there are a few turmeric growing areas in the country where the soil contains lead. Had there been proper testing prior to export, it could have been detected.
Among the potential products faced with accreditation-related problems, pharmaceutical is one believed to be suffering the most. A lack of accredited laboratories has for long been recognised as a crucial deterrent to the expansion of the country's pharmaceutical industry, as well as accessing overseas markets.
Concerned quarters are of the view that medicine exports from Bangladesh, given its potentials, could have increased manifold had there been accredited labs in the country to conduct proper bio-equivalence and bio-availability tests of the generic drugs produced by the pharmaceutical companies. Although at present Bangladesh exports generic medicines to a good number of low-end markets in the Asian, Middle Eastern and African regions where markets are less regulated, the real opportunity for the country's pharmaceutical sector to grow with attendant challenges lies in penetrating the high-end advanced markets of Europe and the United States.
Forecasts on prospects of the country's pharmaceutical sector have been doing the rounds for quite some time-for well-deserved reasons. However, given the strictly regulated global pharmaceutical regime coupled with the highly capital-intensive nature of the industry, its expansion is dependent on factors, a good deal of which is beyond the capacity of individual entrepreneurs. This is particularly so when it comes to accessing overseas markets, especially those in the developed countries. As for meeting the demands of the domestic market, it has been learnt that medicines produced locally- generic drugs of brand medicines - are presently in a position to meet 97 per cent of local demand.
According to industry insiders, Bangladesh is capable of producing high-quality drugs as the industry employs state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities, sophisticated quality control equipment and skilled human resources. This is well complemented by the capacity and heavy investment by local companies in the past years.
Absence of accredited labs also affects export of many other products, including both primary and processed products. Food products, in particular processed food products, are reportedly hard hit in this respect. Like pharmaceuticals, many of the primary and processed products can only access less regulated markets.
If absence of accreditation is a major deterrent to expanding export destinations, not only for pharmaceuticals but also for a number of other products, steps should be taken to develop facilities enjoying globally recognised accreditation power. It has been learnt that one of the key hurdles in the process of having accredited labs in the country is that the Bangladesh Accreditation Board (BAB), the designated body to get the testing labs registered or authorised by it, is itself yet to be authorised by international accreditation bodies. The authorities concerned must immediately initiate a serious move to earn recognition from international bodies.
