The Hindu : India's gesture to Bangla cement exporters

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Oct 22, 2003

Business

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India's gesture to Bangla cement exporters

By Haroon Habib

DHAKA OCT. 21. New Delhi has agreed to relax testing requirements for Bangladesh's cement in response to Dhaka's concern over the non-tariff barrier that discouraged cement exports to India's northeastern States.

The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) would henceforth accept certification by the Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institute (BSTI) on Bangladeshi cement conforming to BIS standards. "Therefore, there would be no need for Bangladeshi cement exporters to get their samples tested in India and certified by the BIS,'' Ram Sundaram, Joint Secretary of India's Commerce Ministry and leader of Indian delegation in the ongoing Free Trade Agreement (FTA) talks that began here on Monday told journalists.

The gesture, however, came as a reward as Bangladesh agreed to withdraw restrictions on import of Indian cotton and yarn through land ports, a restriction India wanted to withdraw. It was agreed that official testing agencies of the two countries would sit together shortly to discuss mutual recognition of their respective standards. Once this is done, the certificates issued by an agency like BSTI would be accepted by the Indian Customs and vice versa. The Indian side agreed to relax restriction, but said a local agent would be put there to represent the Bangladeshi exporters' concern.

Sources said so far there was little progress in the TFA talks. The Bangladesh side presented a long list of non-tariff barriers that makes access of its merchandise into the Indian market difficult. Indian trade officials' key concern now is to get the FTA signed as soon as possible, for what they said "encouraging Indian investment'' in Bangladesh. They cited the cases of Sri Lanka and Nepal, and said these two SAARC countries had benefited much from increased Indian investment after signing bilateral FTAs with India.

The Indian side, on the other hand, raised issues such as opening of the land route to import of cotton yarns and sugar from India that the Bangladesh Government has put on suspension for sometime.

However, Iliyas Ahmed, leader of the Bangladesh team, said the meeting kicked off in a friendly and cordial atmosphere. "The significance of the mission is FTA. Bangladesh side also recognises it,'' said Mr. Sundaram.

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