Improving standards and testing
Md Ismail Khan
It would not be any overstatement to say that one of the vital areas to aid stepped up economic activities, specially in the area of exports, remains undeveloped in Bangladesh. This is the in the sphere of correctly evaluating standards of goods and testing to determine their quality and other aspects.
The Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institution (BSTI) is the lone organization in the field. But as a government operated body it suffers from all the ills associated with bureaucracy, corruption and lack of proper equipment and all sorts of paraphernalia to do its work with effectiveness. If BSTI had been a functionally acceptable organization to all inside and outside the country, then it could discharge an invaluable role in facilitating the export trade of the country. But in its current state, it is allegedly failing to play such a role.
For example, Bangladesh has good prospects of trading with the north eastern Indian states. Problems of smooth geographical access as well as the costs of freighting goods from the rest of India to these virtually land locked states make Bangladesh a natural alternative source of supply of many of these goods to these states. But the expected large volumes of various types of goods from Bangladesh face entry problems in north eastern India as the Indian authorities consider BSTI certified products as undependable. Some critics in Bangladesh are prone to describing such restrictions as non tariff barriers but in all fairness the reality is that the Indian objections in at least some cases could prove to be valid on follow ups by any other dependable authorities.
In fact, charges are also made frequently by consumers from within Bangladesh itself about the dubious nature of BSTI certification. It is credibly alleged that BSTIs certificates of standards and testing can be purchased relatively easily through graft. Rent seeking instincts pervade this organization which make possible on the part of producers to obtain certification from BSTI that their products or produces have duly met the criterion as properly made or produced. In many cases, the certifications are issued based on lower than the normal level of testing that would be required to carry out the tests with full rigours. The lack of physical capacities of BSTI in terms of both equipment and manpower is the cause of this.
It is thought that Bangladeshs exports to India can increase substantially from Bangladesh building up world class centers for testing and standards within its territories. Heaps of goods exported from Bangladesh lie at Indian customs points for months before these can be tested by such centres in India and given clearance. If international standard such testing could be conducted in Bangladesh, then the export operations could be completed faster and a great deal more could be exported to the neighbouring country with which Bangladesh currently runs a big trade deficit.
Not only India, other countries that import products from Bangladesh such as the European Union (EU), also raise objections and sometimes send back export items like shrimps complaining insufficient testing for safety. Thus, BSTI urgently needs upgrading to overcome these problems on a lasting basis. An available Indian credit to Bangladesh provided for the establishment of quality testing institutions and to upgrade them. It should be utilized at the fastest specially to revamp BSTI. Other proposals to build such centres on a private-public partnership basis should be promoted.
The writer is Deputy Managing Director of a leading business conglomerate based in Dhaka
