Cabinet okays draft of APTA

The Cabinet yesterday approved the draft of the second amendment to the Asia-Pacific Trade Agreement (APTA), the oldest preferential trade arrangement among the countries of Asia-Pacific region, reports BSS.
“The amendment is to include Mongolia and rearrange of the tariff regime under the agreement,” Cabinet Secretary M Shafiul Alam said in a briefing6 after the weekly Cabinet meeting with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the chair at Bangladesh Secretariat.
The draft, he said, also finalised a new list of tariff regime under the agreement. APTA was previously known as Bangkok Agreement, signed in 1975 while it was renamed in 2005.
The forum until now groups Bangladesh, India, China, South Korea, Sri Lanka and Lao while Mongolia is likely to be a new member as the 
next APTA ministerial meeting slated for 
January 13, 2017 in Bangkok is expected to finalize its inclusion.
Under the agreement, Bangladesh generally gives 10 to 70 per cent duty free access to 598 items from APTA countries in addition to 20 to 50 per cent concession to four more items from LDCs within the grouping.
As per agreement China gives 5 to 100 per cent duty free access of 2,191 items of APTA countries while India gives five to 100 per cent duty free access to 3,334 items under the agreement.
The Cabinet Secretary said the meeting yesterday also reviewed the current situation of the garments sector and welcomed the resumption of operation in all garment factories in Ashulia.
“The Cabinet has called for taking concerted efforts to resolve the problems of the workers and owners of the factories,” he said.
The Asia-Pacific Trade Agreement (APTA), previously named the Bangkok Agreement, was signed in 1975 as an initiative of ESCAP. Being the oldest preferential trade agreement among developing countries in Asia-Pacific, APTA aims to promote economic development through the adoption of mutually beneficial trade liberalisation measures that will contribute to intra-regional trade expansion and provides for economic integration through coverage of merchandise goods, services, investment and trade facilitation.
Open to all developing member countries, APTA is a truly region-wide trade agreement spanning East and South Asia, with potential to expand to other sub-regions, including Central Asia and the Pacific. APTA is the first plurilateral agreement among the developing countries in the region to adopt common operational procedures for certification and verification of the origin of goods and it has the longest effective implementation period amongst the trade agreements in the entire 
Asia-Pacific. 
Notably, APTA is the only operational trade agreement linking China and India, two of the fastest growing markets in the world, and other major markets such as the Republic of Korea.

 

 

 

 

Cabinet okays draft of APTA

The Cabinet yesterday approved the draft of the second amendment to the Asia-Pacific Trade Agreement (APTA), the oldest preferential trade arrangement among the countries of Asia-Pacific region, reports BSS. The amendment is to include Mongolia and rearrange of the tariff regime under the agreement, Cabinet Secretary M Shafiul Alam said in a briefing6 after the weekly Cabinet meeting with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the chair at Bangladesh Secretariat. The draft, he said, also finalised a new list of tariff regime under the agreement. APTA was previously known as Bangkok Agreement, signed in 1975 while it was renamed in 2005. The forum until now groups Bangladesh, India, China, South Korea, Sri Lanka and Lao while Mongolia is likely to be a new member as the next APTA ministerial meeting slated for January 13, 2017 in Bangkok is expected to finalize its inclusion. Under the agreement, Bangladesh generally gives 10 to 70 per cent duty free access to 598 items from APTA countries in addition to 20 to 50 per cent concession to four more items from LDCs within the grouping. As per agreement China gives 5 to 100 per cent duty free access of 2,191 items of APTA countries while India gives five to 100 per cent duty free access to 3,334 items under the agreement. The Cabinet Secretary said the meeting yesterday also reviewed the current situation of the garments sector and welcomed the resumption of operation in all garment factories in Ashulia. The Cabinet has called for taking concerted efforts to resolve the problems of the workers and owners of the factories, he said. The Asia-Pacific Trade Agreement (APTA), previously named the Bangkok Agreement, was signed in 1975 as an initiative of ESCAP. Being the oldest preferential trade agreement among developing countries in Asia-Pacific, APTA aims to promote economic development through the adoption of mutually beneficial trade liberalisation measures that will contribute to intra-regional trade expansion and provides for economic integration through coverage of merchandise goods, services, investment and trade facilitation. Open to all developing member countries, APTA is a truly region-wide trade agreement spanning East and South Asia, with potential to expand to other sub-regions, including Central Asia and the Pacific. APTA is the first plurilateral agreement among the developing countries in the region to adopt common operational procedures for certification and verification of the origin of goods and it has the longest effective implementation period amongst the trade agreements in the entire Asia-Pacific. Notably, APTA is the only operational trade agreement linking China and India, two of the fastest growing markets in the world, and other major markets such as the Republic of Korea.