Bangladesh recently sought duty-free entry of 42 products, including garments, into Nepal under the proposed preferential trade agreement (PTA). The country’s commerce ministry recently handed over the list of products to the Nepalese government, which is expected reply this month. Nepal had earlier sought duty-free access of 20 of its products to Bangladesh and Dhaka had agreed to that.
The proposed PTA draft will be finalised only after Nepal’s agrees to the list of products sent by Bangladesh. The draft will then be presented to the cabinet for approval.
If finalised, it will be the second such trade deal for Bangladesh, which will sign its first PTA with Bhutan on December 6, according to a Bangla newspaper report.
The list of Bangladeshi products sent to Nepal includes readymade garments, refrigerators, motorcycles, medicines, potatoes, chewing gum, sweet biscuits, toast biscuits, jam-jelly, fruit and vegetable juices, plastic tableware, kitchen wires, uncoated paper and paperboard, wooden office and home furniture and plastic furniture.
The products that Nepal wanted a duty-free access in the market of Bangladesh are: green vegetables, lentils, cardamom, ginger, various fruits, tea, coffee, herbal products, brooms, noodles, mineral water, clinker and cement, dairy products, handmade paper, carpets made of wool, pashmina (winter sheet or shawl), footwear, silver jewellery and contact lenses.
