WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  RESTRICTED 
WT/TPR/G/270 
10 September 2012  
 
(12-4654) 
Trade Policy Review Body Original: English 
   
 
  
 
TRADE POLICY REVIEW 
 
Report by 
 
BANGLADESH 
 
  
 
Pursuant to the Agreement Establishi ng the Trade Policy Review Mechanism 
(Annex 3 of the Marrakesh Agreement Establishing the World Trade 
Organization), the policy statement by Bangladesh is attached. 
 
 
Note: This report is subject to restricted circ ulation and press embargo until the end of the first 
session of the meeting of the Trade Policy Review Body on Bangladesh. Bangladesh WT/TPR/G/270 
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CONTENTS 
 
    P a g e  
I.  INTRODUCTION 5 
II.  RECENT ECONOMIC PERFORMANCE 7  
III.  TRADE POLICY DEVELOPMENT 12  
IV.  BANGLADESH IN MULTILATERAL TRADING SYSTEM 16  
V.  BANGLADESH IN BILATERAL AND REGIONAL TRADE AGREEMENTS 18  
VI.  WAY FORWARD 18  
 
    
 
    
 
     
 
    
 
     
 
    
 
  _________________________________________________________________________________  Bangladesh WT/TPR/G/270 
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I. INTRODUCTION 
1. This is the Fourth Trade Policy Review of Bangladesh covering the period between 2006 and 
2012, when Bangladesh faced the challenges of economic  and financial crisis, food and oil price hike, 
increased inflationary pressure and energy crisis. 
2. During the period under review Bangladesh’s econo my continued to remain resilient against 
these challenges due to various fiscal and monetary measures taken by the Government. Growth throughout the period under review was driven by growth in domestic consumption as a result of 
increased flow of remittance, increased export, increased salary and public expenditure. Growth was 
further supported by two stimulus packages, togeth er with fiscal and monetary policy supports. The 
Government declared stimulus packages of BDT 34.84 billion1 in FY 2008-09 and BDT 50 billion in 
FY 2009-10 for agriculture, export, electricity and social safety net programmes. 
3. During the period under review both GDP and per capita GDP have increased by at least one-
third. Both export and import have increased more th an twice.  For the first time, Bangladesh was able 
to retain current account balance positive through out the period under review. Bangladesh has made 
noteworthy progress in the attainment of MDGs during 2000s and is on track in relation to most of the 
targets. Poverty gap ratio is brought down to 6.5 against 2015 target of 8 with the rate of poverty 
reduction being 1.44% in relation to  the required rate of 1.23%. With regard to targets such as 
expansion of primary and secondary ed ucation, infant and child mortality rates, containing the spread 
and fatality of malaria and tuberculosis, reforesta tion, access to safe drinking water and sanitation 
latrines especially in urban areas, Bangladesh has ma de remarkable progress and will be able to reach 
several of these targets before th e stipulated time (Table 1). The country has already achieved gender 
parity in primary and secondary education. 
Table 1  
Status of Millennium Development Goals in Bangladesh 
Goals Base year 
2000-02 Current MDG Target 
1990-95 2005-10 2015 
Goal 1:  Eradicate Extreme Poverty and Hunger     
Target 1: Halve by 2015 the proportion of people living 
below the poverty line     
Poverty headcount ratio (2010) 59 50 31.5 29 
Poverty Gap Ratio (2010) 17 13 6.5 8 
Target 2: Halve by 2015 the pr oportion of people who suffer 
from hunger     
Prevalence of child malnutrition (per cent of children under 5) 68 51 45 33 
Population below minimum level of dietary energy 
consumption (per cent) 28 -- 20 14 
Goal 2: Achieve Universal Primary Education      
Target 3: Ensure that all boys and girls complete a full 
course of primary schooling     
Net enrollment ratio in primary education 61 83 91 100 
Percentage of cohort reaching grade 5 (per cent) 43 -- 55 100 
Adult literacy rate 37 39 58 -- 
Table 1 (cont'd) 
                                                      
1 US$1=BDT 69.18 (BDTBangladeshi Taka (currency)) WT/TPR/G/270 Trade Policy Review 
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Goals Base year 
2000-02 Current MDG Target 
1990-95 2005-10 2015 
Goal 3: Promote Gender Equality and Empower Women      
Target 4 : Eliminate gender disparity in primary and 
secondary education preferably by 2005 and at all levels by 2015     
Ratio of girls to boys in primary and secondary education (per 
cent) 77 104 106 100 
Ratio of girls to boys in tertiary education (per cent) 37 32 32 100 
Ratio of literate females to males (per  cent of ages 20 - 24) 65 77  85 100 
Share of women employed in the non- agricultural sector (per 
cent) 19 -- 25 50 
Goal 4: Reduce child mortality      
Target 5: Reduce by two thirds by 2015 the under 5 mortality 
rate     
Under 5 Mortality Rate (per 1000) 146 82 54 50 
Infant Mortality Rate (per 1000 live births) 92 56 41 31 
Immunization, measles (per cent of children under 12 months) 54 69 82 100 
Goal 5: Improve Maternal Health       
Target 6: Reduce by three quarters, by 2015, the maternal 
mortality ratio     
Maternal Mortality Ratio (per 100,000 live births) 574 400 194 143 
Births attended by skilled health sta ff (per cent of tota l) 5 12 24 50 
Goal 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases       
Target 7: Have halted by 2015 and begin to reverse the 
spread of HIV/AIDS     
Contraceptive Prevalence Rate (per cent of women ages  
15-49) 40 -- 60 72 
Target 8: Have halted by 2015 and begin to reverse the 
incidence of malaria and other major diseases     
Deaths of malaria per 100,000 population 1.4 -- 0.4 0 
Incidence of tuberculosis (100,000 people) 264 233 225 Halving 
Tuberculosis cases detected under DOTS (per cent) 21 34 74 75 
Goal 7 : Ensure Environmental Sustainability       
Target 9: Integrate the principles of sustainable development 
into country policies and reverse the loss of environmental 
resources     
Productive forest area (%) (70 % tree density) 9 10 13 20 
Consumption of ozone depleting CFCs  (per capita tonnes) 195 0 128 0 
Proportion of terrestrial and marine areas protected 1.6 -- 1.7/0.5 5 
CO2 emissions ( tonnes per capita) 0.1 0.2 0.3 -- 
Target 10 : Halve, by 2015, the proportion of people without 
sustainable access to safe drinking water and sanitation      
Proportion of urban population w ith access to safe drinking 
water 98.8 82 99.9 100 
Proportion of rural population w ith access to safe drinking 
water 93.1 72 79 96.5 
Proportion of urban population with access to sanitary latrines 56.2 56 88 85.5 
Proportion of rural population with access to  sanitary latrines 15.3 29 85 55.5 
Table 1 (cont'd) Bangladesh WT/TPR/G/270 
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Goals Base year 
2000-02 Current MDG Target 
1990-95 2005-10 2015 
Target 11: By 2020, have achieve a significant improvement 
in the lives of at least 100 million slum dwellers     
Proportion of households with access to secure tenure -- -- 36.4 -- 
Goal 8: Develop a Global Partnership for Development      
Target 12 : Develop and implement strategies for decent and 
productive work for youth     
Youth unemployment rate (per cent of total labor force ages 
15 24) 2.9 8 13.4 -- 
Target 13 : Make available the benefits of new technologies, 
especially informa tion and communication     
Fixed line and mobile telephones (p er 100 people) 0.2 1.3 13.6 50 
Internet users (per 100 people) -- 0.2 3.4 -- 
Source :  UNDP 2009, Bangladesh Bureau of Statistic s HIES 2010 and Bangladesh Planning Commission 
4. As regards trade policy, Bangladesh continues to  reform its trade and fiscal policy with a 
view to reducing burden of customs duty on revenue collection.  During the period under review 
Bangladesh put emphasis on successful conclusion of  Doha Development Round with specific focus 
on the needs of least developed countries. Bang ladesh with other SAARC countries has been 
implementing the Agreement on South Asian Free  Trade Area (SAFTA) and gradually moving 
towards closer integration in SAARC region.        
II. RECENT ECONOMIC PERFORMANCE 
5. The Bangladesh economy registered growth rate  of above 6% throughout the period between 
2006 and 2012 with an exception in FY 2008-09.  Im pressive GDP growth has also resulted in an 
increase of per capita GDP from US$ 487 in FY 2006-07 to US$ 748 in FY 2010-11. Estimates show 
that in financial year FY 2011-12, GDP has regist ered growth rate at 6.32% and per capita GDP has 
increased to US$ 772. 
6. During the period under review all major sector s namely agriculture, industry and service 
made contributions to GDP growth. However, over th is period growth of industrial sector has been 
highest. As a result, contribution of industrial sector in GDP has increased from 29.03% to 31.26% 
during the period between FY 2005-06 and FY 2011- 12, while the share of agriculture sector has 
declined from 21.84% to 19.29% (Table 2) 
Table 2 
Structure of GDP of Bangladesh 
Percentage of GDP] 
Sector 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 
(Provisional) 
Agriculture 21.84 21.37 20.83 20.49 20.3 20.01 19.29 
Industry 29.03 29.45 29.7 29.86 29.93 30.37 31.26 
Service 49.15 49.18 49.47 49.66 49.76 49.6 49.45 
Source :  Bangladesh Economic Review, 2012 WT/TPR/G/270 Trade Policy Review 
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7. Generating employment for poverty alleviation has been one of the biggest challenges for 
Bangladesh as every year a huge number of popula tions enter into the labour market. During the 
period between 2005 and 2010, 6.7 million jobs have  been created while 7.2 million people have 
entered into the labour market. As a result, unempl oyment rate has been increased from 4.3% to 4.5% 
during the same period. The country has been able to reduce the absolute poverty as percentage of 
total population from 40.4% in 2005 to 31.5% in 2010 primarily attributable to social safety programme and increased outflow of workers with an average of more than 500 thousand workers 
going abroad in each year during last five years.  
8. During the period between 2006 and 2012 national saving as percentage of GDP has 
increased from 28.7% to 29.4% partly due to in creased worker remittanc e inflow from abroad. 
National investment as percentage of GDP has also registered gradual increase from 24.5% to 25.4%. Although private sector investment represent major sh are in national investment, Government efforts 
to develop infrastructure in recent years has a major contribution to gradual increase of national investment.  
9. One of the major challenges for the Governme nt of Bangladesh is to mobilize internal 
resources. Over the period tax- GDP ratio was belo w 10 percentage points.  Efforts of successive 
governments to raise the tax through automation, polic y changes, broadening the tax base, etc. have 
resulted in the increase of tax-GDP ratio. During th e period under review tax GDP ratio has increased 
from 8.3% to 10.5%, while the revenue GDP ratio has increased from 10.5% to 12.9%. Most import 
achievement during this period is that the Gove rnment has gradually reduced dependence on import 
duty on tax revenue with gradual increas e of value added tax and income ta x revenue (Table 3).        
Table 3 
Source of Tax Revenue and their share in total tax revenue 
  2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 
Total Revenue as percentage of GDP 10.5 11.1 11.2 11.1 11.9 12.9 
Tax  Revenue as percentage of GDP 8.3 8.8 9 9.2 9.9 10.5 
  As percentage of Tax Revenue 
Import Duty 20.9 19.4 17.0 14.6 14.0 14.3 
Supplementary duty 15.5 15.7 15.5 16.4 16.6 17.2 
Value Added Tax 35.4 35.7 36.6 36.9 36.6 36.8 
Income tax 22.4 23.7 25.2 26.3 27.5 25.7 
Other tax 18.3 17.6 17.0 17.3 17.1 18.7 
Source :  Bangladesh Economic Review and National Board of Revenue 
10. During the period under review, especially since 2008, surge in commodity price in 
international markets has created upward pressure on in flation in the country due to the fact that the 
country is a net food and oil importing country.  In flation reached the peak at 9.97% in FY 2007-08 
and then slowly declined in the following two financ ial years. However, upwar d trend in inflation was 
again recorded in FY 2010-11, which stood at 8.80%. During this period inflation was caused mainly 
by food and oil prices. However, in FY 2011-12 inflationary pressures were exerted by non-food 
inflation. As a result, overall average inflation was registered at 11.11% during the period between 
July and March in FY 2011-12. Estimate shows that y early inflation is likely to be 9.5% in FY 2011-
12. Keeping inflation within the reach of consumer s is going to be one of the major challenges of 
Bangladesh.   
11. In the area of trade, Bangladesh made signi ficant achievement during the period under 
review. Trade (goods +services) GDP ratio register ed an upward trend and increased from 44.3% in Bangladesh WT/TPR/G/270 
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FY 2005-06 to 55.0% in FY 2011-12, indicating that  the economy has been increasingly integrating 
into the global economy. 
12. During the period under review export of Bangl adesh has registered a double digit growth 
except in FY 2009-10 when many countries have re gistered negative export growth due to global 
economic and financial crisis. However, Banglad esh’s export remains highly concentrated on 
garments export. In fact, concentration of garm ents has increased during the period under review. 
Nevertheless, evidence suggest that robust performan ce of export sector is led by the garment export 
and in fact, as per 2011 international trade statistic s published by the WTO Bangladesh ranks fourth in 
clothing exporters in the world. Export performance and composition of Bangladesh have been shown 
in Table 4.         
Table 4 
Export performance and composition of Bangladesh 
Description 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 
(Jul. 2011 to 
Feb 2012) 
Export (Million US$) 10,526 12,178 14,111 15,565 16,205  22,928 15,904 
Of  which:         
a) Primary commodities 7.3% 6.8% 7.0% 5.6% 5.5% 5.7% 5.5% 
1.  Raw Jute 1.4% 1.2% 1.2% 1.0% 1.2% 1.6% 1.1% 
2.  Tea 0.1% 0.1% 0.1% 0.1% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 
3.  Frozen food 4.4% 4.2% 3.8% 2.9% 2.7% 2.7% 2.8% 
4.  Agricultural products 1.0% 0.7% 0.9% 1.7% 1.5% 1.1% 1.3% 
5.  Other primary commodities 0.5% 0.6% 1.1% 0.9% 0.0% 0.3% 0.3% 
          
b) Manufactured goods 92.7% 93.2% 93.0% 94.4% 94.5% 94.3% 94.5% 
6.  Jute goods 3.4% 2.6% 2.3% 1.7% 3.3% 3.3% 2.8% 
7. Leather 2.4% 2.2% 2.0% 1.1% 1.4% 1.3% 1.3% 
8.  Naphtha, furnace oil and 
bitumen 0.8% 0.7% 1.3% 0.9% 1.9% 1.1% 1.1% 
9. Woven garments 38.8% 38.2% 36.6% 38.0% 37.1% 36.8% 39.4% 
10. Knitwear 36.3% 37.4% 39.2% 41.3% 40.0% 41.4% 39.6% 
11. Chemical products 2.0% 1.8%  1.5% 1.8% 0.6% 0.5% 0.5% 
12. Shoe 0.9% 1.1% 1.2% 1.2% 1.3% 1.3% 1.5% 
13. Handicrafts 0.0% 0.1% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 
14. Engineering products 1.1% 1.9% 1.6% 1.2% 1.9% 1.4% 1.5% 
15. Other mfg. products 6.9% 7.1% 7.3% 7.0% 7.0% 7.3% 6.9% 
Growth of Export (%) 21.63 15.69 15.87 10.31 4.11 41.49 13.03 
Source :  Bangladesh Economic Review, 2012 
13. As regards destinations of Ba ngladesh’s export, the European Union continues to remain the 
main destination and it is likely to remain so because of relaxed GSP rules of origin for least 
developed countries since January 2011. In fact, incr eased share of woven garments to total export of 
Bangladesh in FY 2010-11 is attributable to relaxe d rules of origin in woven garments.  Since 2007 
Turkey has emerged as an important destination of Bangladesh’s export due to alignment of Turkey’s 
trade policy with the European Union. As a re sult, during the period between FY 2006-07 and FY 
2010-11 Turkey’s share in Bangladesh’s export has increased from 1.4% to 3.2%. However, recent 
imposition of additional duty on apparel products by  the Government of Turkey has adversely 
affected Bangladesh export to Tu rkey. The United States continues to remain important destination WT/TPR/G/270 Trade Policy Review 
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although major export items of Bangladesh apparel products are outside the purview of the US GSP 
Scheme. However, its share in Bangladesh’s expo rt has declined during the period under review 
(Table 5). 
Table 5 
Destination of Bangladesh’s export 
Financial Year 2006-07 2010-11 
Total (US$ Million) 12,177.9 22,928.2 
Of  which:    
EU 52.6% 52.1% 
USA 28.3% 22.3% 
Canada 3.8% 4.3% 
Japan 1.2% 1.9% 
China 0.8% 1.4% 
Turkey 1.4% 3.2% 
SAARC 3.0% 2.8% 
Other 9.0% 12.0% 
Source :  Export Promotion Bureau, Bangladesh 
14. Import of Bangladesh has also increased in  tandem with export. During the period under 
review, there is no significant change in compos ition of import. Nevertheless, increasing pressure on 
payment of import of food grains, sugar, raw cott on and petroleum products is visible seemingly due 
to price hike of these products. On the other hand, share of import of capital machinery in total import 
has declined during the period under review (Table 6).   
Table 6.   
Composition of Bangladesh’s import 
Commodity 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 
Total import (c.i.f.) 14,746 17,157 21,629 22,507 23,738 33,657 
Of  which:        
1. Food grain 2.8% 3.4% 6.5% 3.9% 3.5% 5.7% 
i) Rice 0.8% 1.0% 4.0% 1.1% 0.3% 2.5% 
ii) Wheat 2.0% 2.3% 2.5% 2.9% 3.2% 3.2% 
2. Milk and cream 0.5% 0.5% 0.6% 0.4% 0.4% 0.5% 
3. Spices 0.2% 0.4% 0.4% 0.3% 0.5% 0.4% 
4. Oil seeds 0.6% 0.6% 0.6% 0.7% 0.5% 0.3% 
5. Edible oil 3.2% 3.4% 4.7% 3.8% 4.4% 3.2% 
6. Pulses (all sorts) 1.1% 1.1% 1.5% 1.0% 1.5% 0.9% 
7. Sugar 0.8% 1.7% 1.8% 1.8% 2.7% 1.9% 
8. Clinker 1.4% 1.4% 1.6% 1.4% 1.4% 1.3% 
9. Crude petroleum 4.1% 3.1% 3.2% 2.6% 2.3% 2.6% 
10. POL 9.5% 10.0% 9.5% 8.9% 8.5% 9.6% 
11. Chemicals 3.9% 3.9% 4.1% 4.3% 4.1% 3.7% 
12. Pharmaceutical products 0.3% 0.3% 0.3% 0.4% 0.4% 0.3% 
13. Fertilizer 2.3% 2.1% 2.9% 4.2% 3.0% 3.7% 
14. Dyeing and tanning materials 1.0% 0.9% 1.0% 1.2% 1.2% 1.0% 
15. Plastic and rubber & articles thereof 3.5% 3.7% 3.7% 3.7% 4.1% 3.9% 
Table 6 (cont'd) Bangladesh WT/TPR/G/270 
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Commodity 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 
16. Raw cotton 5.0% 5.0% 5.6% 5.7% 6.1% 8.0% 
17. Yarn 3.4% 3.4% 3.2% 3.5% 3.0% 4.1% 
18. Textile and articles thereof 11.7% 11.0% 8.7% 9.3% 8.4% 8.0% 
19. Staple fibre 0.5% 0.6% 0.5% 0.5% 0.5% 0.5% 
20. Iron, steel and other base metal 6.6% 5.7% 5.5% 6.7% 6.1% 6.0% 
21. Capital machinery 10.4% 11.2% 7.7% 6.3% 6.7% 6.9% 
22. Others 19.6% 19.8% 20.3% 23.5% 24.7% 21.2% 
23. Imports by EPZ (Export Processing Zone) 7.2% 6.7% 6.0% 5.8% 6.0% 6.4% 
Growth (%) 12.2 16.4 26.1 4.1 5.5 41.8 
Source :  Bangladesh Economic Review, 2012 
15. As regards sources of imports, China and India c ontinue to remain major sources of import of 
Bangladesh. Moreover, their presence in Banglad esh’s import has gradually increased during the 
period under review. Among the top 10 sources of im port, Malaysia has steadily increased its share, 
while shares of remaining countries in total import of Bangladesh have declined during this period 
(Table 7). 
Table 7 
Sources of Bangladesh’s import  
2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 
Import (US$ Million) 14,746 17, 157 21,629 22,507  23,738 33,658 
Of  which:   
India 12.7% 13.2% 15.7% 12.7% 13.5% 13.6% 
China 14.1% 15.0% 14.5% 15.3% 16.1% 17.6% 
Singapore 5.8% 6.0% 5.9% 7.9% 6.5% 3.8% 
Japan 4.4% 4.0% 3.8% 4.5% 4.5% 3.9% 
Hong Kong 4.2% 4.4% 3.8% 3.8% 3.3% 2.3% 
Taiwan 3.2% 2.8% 2.2% 2.2% 2.3% 2.2% 
Republic of Korea 3.3% 3.2% 2.9% 3.8% 3.5% 3.3% 
United States 2.3% 2.2% 2.3% 2.0% 2.0% 2.0% 
Malaysia 2.3% 1.9% 2.1% 3.1% 5.2% 5.2% 
Others 47.9% 47.2% 46.9% 44.6% 43.1% 46.1% 
Source :  Bangladesh Economic Review, 2012 
16. Foreign employment and remittance from Banglades hi nationals working abroad continues to 
make important contribution to economic developmen t of the country through reducing the rate of 
unemployment, poverty alleviati on and strengthening foreign exchange reserves. During the period 
under review the number of expatriate workers h as been almost doubled and remittance has increased 
by more than twice. During this period share of  remittance to GDP has r ecorded a rising trend, 
although in FY 2010-11 it has declined slightly (Table 8).  WT/TPR/G/270 Trade Policy Review 
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Table 8.    
Number of expatriate work ers and remittance inflow since FY 2005-06       
Financial Year Number of expatriates 
(thousand) Remittances 
(US$ million) Remittance as percentage 
of GDP  
2005-06 291 4,802.4 7.8 
2006-07 564 5,998.5 8.8 
2007-08 981 7,914.8 10.0 
2008-09 650 9,689.3 11.0 
2009-10 427 10,987.4 11.1 
2010-11 439 11,650.3 10.4 
2011-12  502 12,846.1 - 
Source :  Bangladesh Economic review 2012 and Bangladesh Bank 
17. Robust performance of external sector and in creased inflow of remittance has made it 
possible for Bangladesh to maintain current account  balance positive for consecutive six years for the 
first time in her history despite the fact that duri ng this period, Bangladesh has faced challenges to pay 
increased import bills due to food and oil price hik es. During the period, current account balance to 
GDP ratios were around 1% with a peak of 3.7% in FY 2009-10.  
III. TRADE POLICY DEVELOPMENT 
18. The tariff remains Bangladesh’s main trade po licy instruments. The major challenges in 
formulating the tariff policy were to rationalize tari ff structure, ensure revenue generation, provide 
tariff assistance to domestic industry in order to su pport industrial growth and at the same time to 
keep the price of essential commodities as low as  possible by reducing tax burden, on which 
Bangladesh is mainly dependent on import. Bangladesh  has continued to maintain 5 tariff slabs during 
the period under review with maximum tariff at the rate of 25%.  At present, 99.7% of total HS lines 
are subject to ad-valorem rates. Only 0.3% of total HS lines covering 22 HS lines are subject to specific rate. During the period under review speci fic duties have been in troduced on some essential 
commodities in order to reduce tax burden on import by the way of minimizing customs duty due to 
fluctuation of international price of these commoditi es. In order to rationalize tariff structure, major 
efforts have been dedicated to reduce the numb er of national HS lines and harmonize tariff rates 
within the same HS heading in order to avoid th e dispute over tariff classification. During the period 
under review average tariff has been reduced from 16.39% to 14.85%.    
19. Customs clearance procedure in the country h as undergone remarkable transformation. Steps 
taken by Bangladesh in this regard include full automation of customs clearance through 
ASYCUDA++, direct traders input for allowing faster lodgement of declaration and quicker assessment, allowing containerized FCL (Full Container Load) cargo to get un-stuffing and delivery at the Private Inland Container Depots (outside the port area). At present, the ASYCUDA System is 
being used by four major Custom Houses in Bangladesh- namely, Chittagong , Dhaka, Benapole and 
Mongla, covering about 90% of the volume of trade (both import and export) of the country.  There is a plan to introduce the system at 6 Land Customs Offices by June next year, which will expand the 
coverage of automation to more than 95% of the total volume of trade of the country. The Government has already initiated the process to further upgrade th e automation system to ASYCUDA 
world with a view to moving towards establishment of Single Window.  
20. The efficiency of the Chittagong Port, the biggest  and busiest port in the country, has also 
seen significant improvement in terms of handling of  ships and loading and unloading of cargo. In 
order to make the examination process of both in - and out-bound cargoes faster container scanners Bangladesh WT/TPR/G/270 
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have been installed at Chittagong port. Establis hment of such non-intrusive modern inspection 
technology has also enabled Bangladesh to submit  advance electronic cargo information to customs 
administrations at export destinations and thereby satisfy an important clause of the SAFE Framework 
of Standards developed by the WCO. All these cont ribute to ensuring the adherence by Bangladesh to 
the concept of integrated supply chain management  emphasized under the trade facilitation agenda of 
WCO and WTO.  
21. Since April 2012 the Government has introduced  an alternate dispute resolution (ADR) 
system in order to expedite settlement of dis putes relating to tax and customs issues. After the 
introduction of this mechanism, disputes are resolved within ten days.  
22. Since 2000 Bangladesh has been implementing customs valuation rule as per WTO 
Agreement on Customs valuation. Pre-shipment insp ection system, which is in place since February 
2000 and certifies quality, quantity, HS classifica tion and transaction value of imported goods, has 
continued during the period under review. With the modernization of customs, the Government has 
gradually reduced the products coverage of PSI sy stem. It is expected that PSI system will be 
withdrawn soon.   
23. In addition to customs duty, Bangladesh levi es value added tax, supplementary duty, 
regulatory duty, advance trade VAT and advance in come tax on import.  Among these charges, value 
added tax are levied at 15%, which is equally a pplicable to domestic industry. Since 2004 advance 
trade VAT has been levied on commercially imported goods. Although this VAT should ideally be collected after the sale is made, due to the limited capacity of the tax administration in collecting VAT 
on imported items for trade at retail level, the tax is collected at the import stage. VAT paid at import 
stage is adjustable during the final payment of VA T.  Similar is the case for advance income tax. 
Supplementary duties are levied mainly on luxury goods etc. Sometimes, it is directed towards 
mitigating the effect of under-invoi cing. Regulatory duty is an interim measure, which is applicable 
during the period of financial year of levying this duty.  In 2007, Bangladesh abolished the 
infrastructural development surcharge on import, which had been in place since 1997.   
24. Import policy of Bangladesh continues to be guided by import policy order issued by the 
Government on three- yearly basis.  Latest import policy order was issued in 2009 and is in force at 
present. Bangladesh has withdrawn all BOP (Balance of Payment) related import restrictions in compliance with its commitment made to the WTO.  Bangladesh continues to maintain import ban for 
religious and social morals.  Import policy order 2009-2012 requires to follow certain procedures for 
import of a number of goods for social, religious, health, environmental and security reasons.  During 
the period under review the Government has relaxed regime for import of petroleum oil and all kinds 
of oil obtained from bituminous mineral crude & LPG, which were earlier importable only by 
Petroleum Corporation of Bangladesh, a state ow ned enterprise. Since 2009 the private sector 
importers having licences from the Energy Regulatory Commission have been allowed to import these 
products.  
25. In 1995, Bangladesh had amended the Customs Act in order to introduce the provisions for 
anti-dumping, countervailing and safeguard measures in accordance with the WTO Agreements.  Rules governing the investigation procedures for dumping and subsidy allega tion and imposition of 
such duties were introduced long time back while rules regarding imposition of safeguard measures 
were introduced in 2010. However, till now Bangladesh has not been able to take recourse of such 
duties due to inability of the domestic industry to  furnish reliable inform ation on dumping, subsidy 
and other evidence required for initiating investigations.    WT/TPR/G/270 Trade Policy Review 
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26. During the period under review, the Government continues to maintain  systems of special 
bonded warehouse, back-to back LC, duty exemption and drawback, tax incentive, credit facility at 
low interest rate, export subsidy, export pro cessing zone and export credit guarantee scheme for 
exporters in order to sustain and promote export and at the same time reduce anti-export bias. The 
Government maintains Export Development Fund (EDF) of $500 million to refinance banks for 
payments made by them against input procurements . The rate of interest on EDF loan is LIBOR + 
2.5% and under the programme an exporter can obtain an EDF loan not exceeding $10 million. The 
Government has also recently enacted a law for establishing Special Economic Zones (SEZ) for 
promoting industrial growth to meet the export as well as domestic demand.  
27. The Government continues to promote e xport through various promotional activities 
organized by the Export Promotion Bureau. The ac tivities include holding annual international trade 
fair in the capital, organization of single count ry trade fairs in various countries, assistance to 
exporters to participate in international trade fa irs, assistance for participation in overseas training 
programmes on product development and marketing with a view to developing technical skills and 
marketing expertise; and assistance for any other ac tivity related to product and market development. 
Besides, in order to establish a platform of public-p rivate partnership towards attaining efficiency and 
productivity for under-performing sectors in export, a company named Business Promotion Council (BPC) has been established under the auspices of the Ministry of Commerce. The BPC has 
established six sector Promotion Councils on ICT, leather, fisheries Products, light engineering 
products, medicinal plant and herbal products and ag ro products in order to enhance their export 
capability and competitiveness. 
28. Like many other countries, Bangladesh also recognizes Small & Medium Enterprises (SMEs) 
as engine of rapid industrialization and national economic growth for their effect on employment 
generation through lower capital inv estment. In order to provide necessary supports to SMEs, an SME 
Foundation was established in 2007 with an aim to implement SME policy of the Government. The 
SME Foundation is playing a pivotal role in help ing the SMEs entrepreneurs including the women 
entrepreneurs by conducting various programs. It al so aims to bring the grassroots entrepreneurs into 
the main stream of economic development throu gh employment generation, reduction of social 
discrimination and poverty allevia tion. The Foundation has an endowment fund of BDT 2 billion to 
provide soft loans to SMEs. 
29. Along with the Government, private sector has also  come forward with the initiative to work 
for development of business environment. To th is end, Business Initiative Leading Development 
(BUILD) was established in 2011 as a joint initia tive of the Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and 
Industry (DCCI), the Metropolitan Chamber of  Commerce and Industry (MCCI) and the SME 
Foundation. It aims at building an enabling enviro nment and initiating a platform for Private-Public 
Partnership, where both the government and the privat e sector could work together to initiate research 
for policy reforms, identify bottlenecks hampering gr owth of private sector. The creation of BUILD 
emanates from the present government’s Vision 2021 which calls for Bangladesh to become a middle 
income country (MIC) by the year 2021. This has insp ired private sector to work in collaboration with 
the government to set several priorities so that targets of the Vision 2021 can be achieved. The 
important feature of the BUILD is that the initiative is  taken by the private sector to work jointly with 
the government to promote trade and investment . Activities of the BUILD are supervised and 
monitored by the Prime Minister’s Office. 
30. Among various working Committees formed under BUILD, most important one is the Trade 
and Investment Working Committee (TIWC) chaire d by the Commerce Secretary.. The TIWC has 
identified a number of areas as its initial focuses, such as (a) research to identify scope for 
simplification and e-governance within major licensi ng processes related to trade; (b) design of a Bangladesh WT/TPR/G/270 
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transactional web portal for the Ministry of Commerce through which businesses can obtain 
information on and apply for different licenses and pe rmits issued by the Ministry and its agencies; (c) 
identify high potential sectors of investment in wh ich Bangladesh holds a competitive advantage and 
can leverage increasing global and domestic market demand; and (d) give greater thrust on export and 
investment in order to fulfil the targets of Sixth Five Year Plan. 
31.  Since 2011 the Government has imposed export tax on bricks, tobacco and cotton waste in 
order to discourage production of tobacco and br icks on health and environmental reasons and 
discourage export of cotton waste to safeguard interests of growing local industry. 
32. With a target to achieve GDP gr owth rate at 10 perc entage points by 2021,  National Industrial 
Policy 2010 was announced. The Policy envisages enhanc ement of contribution of industrial sector 
from the present 28% to 40% in GDP and empl oyment from present 16% to 25% by 2021. For 
achieving this target, Industrial Policy emphasised  on increased private sector participation in all 
sector’s of economy, attracting foreign direct inv estment, development of micro, cottage, small and 
medium size enterprises for income and employment generation, establishment of industrial and high 
tech parks, continuation of investment incentiv es, development of quality infrastructure, public 
private partnership, development of  technol ogical know-how in Bangladesh through technology 
transfer and research and protecting intellectual property rights and adoption of environmentally 
sound manufacturing processes and practices. 
33. During the period under review the Government has enacted Consumer Rights Protection Act, 
2009. A Directorate of National Consumer Right Pr otection was established soon after the enactment 
of the law. In order to ensure competition a nd prohibit anti-competitive business practices in the 
market, the Government has promulgated Compet ition Act 2012 in June 2012. Under this Act, 
Bangladesh Competition Commission will be established for effective implementation and enforcement of the Act. Since 2011 Registrar of Joint Stock Companies and Firms has introduced 
online registration system to enable the companies a nd firms to get registration within four hours from 
the time of submission of application. This step has shortened the start-up time of business by around 
30 days. 
34. Fiscal policy during the period under review has been directed towards raising revenue from 
direct tax through increasing the number of tax payers, modernization and simplification of tax 
payment procedures. As a result, share of direct tax in total tax revenue has increased significantly 
during this period. Since 2008, the Government has reduced corporate tax from 40% to 37.5%.  In 
order to encourage capital market the Government  continues to provide tax incentive to publicly 
traded company provided they give more than 20% dividend to public.    
35. In the area of standards, the Bangladesh Sta ndards and Testing Institution (BSTI) continues to 
be the sole standard setting organization in Ba ngladesh. As of 2012, BSTI has developed 3,498 
standards. Out of these, only 155 are compulso ry standards and applied for both domestic and 
imported products. In order to comply with sta ndard requirement of importing countries for export 
products of Bangladesh, BSTI is be ing strengthened in the areas of quality assurance and certification. 
Several steps have been taken to upgrade its testi ng facilities. Recently a total of 5 laboratories of 
Physical Testing Laboratory and Chemical Tes ting Laboratory of BSTI have been accredited by 
National Accreditation Board of Laboratories (NAB L) of India. Moreover, under the Bangladesh 
Accreditation Act, 2006 Bangladesh Accreditation Bo ard (BAB) was established as an autonomous 
organization and now functions under the administrative  control of the Ministry of Industries with the 
task of developing an accreditation process in Bangladesh. WT/TPR/G/270 Trade Policy Review 
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36. During the period under review in the area of SPS, the Government has enacted Plant 
Quarantine Act 2011; Bangladesh Diseases of Animal Rules, 2008; Bangladesh Fish and Animal Feed 
Act, 2010; Bangladesh Animal Slaughter and Meat Quality Control Act 2011; Fish Feed and Animal 
feed Act, 2010; Fish Feed Rules, 2011; Fish Hatche ry Act, 2010; and Fish Hatchery Rules, 2011 and 
amended Fish and Fish Products (Inspection & Quality  Control) Rules, 1997 in 2008.  Bangladesh has 
taken several steps to ensure quality in shrimp export to the EU. In 2009, Bangladesh voluntarily 
banned its exports of freshwater prawns when unauthorized antibiotic was found in EU-bound 
consignments. Upon improving the quality control sy stem, Bangladesh withdrew export ban after six 
months.  However, in July 2010 the EU authority had introduced a provision on mandatory testing of 
at least 20% of each container of Bangladesh's sw eet-water prawn, which was withdrawn later in 
November 2011 as the quality control mechanism ha s been significantly strengthened in Bangladesh. 
37. In the area of intellectual property right, regard less of  the fact that Bangladesh, as a least 
developed country  has the flexibility not to comp ly with TRIPS obligations until July 2013, the 
Government has taken the initiative to amend  a nd introduce new laws in accordance to the TRIPS 
Agreement. In 2008, with support from the Europ ean Commission and the World Intellectual Property 
Organization, the Government has launched a three-year project to make IP laws TRIPS compliant 
through enacting new laws and am ending existing ones and modernize Bangladesh's IP office. The 
project has already been completed. In 2009 the Go vernment has introduced Trade Mark Act, 2009 in 
compliance with the TRIPS Agreement replacing Trade Mark Act 1940. Copyright Act 2000 was amended in 2005 and Copyright Rules were introd uced in 2007. Geographical Indication Act has 
already been drafted and is in the process of approva l. In order to enforce Copyright Act, Copyright 
Taskforce regularly conducts su rveillance in the presence of police and RAB (Rapid Action 
Battalion). During these surveillances a lot of pira ted books, CD/DVD and software are seized and a 
number of cases are filed in the court against th e accused. In March 2010 Ba ngladesh has submitted 
its priority needs for technical and financial co -operation to the TRIPS Council. Bangladesh proposed 
specific projects worth $71.04 million for fully and effectively implementing the TRIPS Agreement.  
Several countries have shown interests to assist Bangladesh on the basis of the needs assessment 
report. Signing an MOU between Bangladesh and Sw itzerland in this regard is under process. 
Customs Act was also amended in 2011 in order to  empower customs authorities in cooperation with 
the IPR regulatory authorities to inspect, seize, a nd detain shipments of any counterfeit or pirated 
materials.    
38. Ensuring food security for huge population re mains the main challenge for Bangladesh 
especially in the period, when price hike of food an d fuel and natural calamity due to climate change 
have adversely affected the country. Therefore, agri culture remains priority sector for Bangladesh.  
This sector is also an important contributor to employment generation, constituting 48% of labour forces in the country.  During the period under review  the Government continues to provide support to 
the farmers through subsidy on fertilizer and agri culture inputs and by ensuring availability of 
agriculture credit to farmers and expanding its coverage.  
IV. BANGLADESH IN MULTILATERAL TRADING SYSTEM 
39. Bangladesh is committed to World Trade Orga nization and regularly participates in all 
meetings. During the period under review Bangladesh  actively participated in all WTO Ministerial 
Conferences including in July 2008 Mini-Ministe rial. Bangladesh unequivocally raises its voice to 
safeguard the interest of least developed count ries in all DDA negotiations and led the WTO LDC 
group in 2007 and 2011. In DDA negotiations Bangladesh actively advocated for following steps in 
favour of least developed countries:  Bangladesh WT/TPR/G/270 
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 Secured, meaningful and predictable market access by the WTO members in favour of LDCs 
through: 
 Duty-free and quota-free access to all products of all LDCs; 
 Submission of duty-free and quota-free access list by the time of submission of the 
schedules of commitments; 
 Making the Rules of origin applicable for the duty-free and quota-free access 
realistic, simple and flexible to match th e industrial capacity of LDCs in order to 
make them meaningful; 
 Exempting LDCs’ exports from antidumping, count ervailing and safeguard measures.      
 Preferential access in trade in services  for LDCs and free access to movement of natural 
persons, specially unskilled and semi-skilled servi ce providers, through elimination of all sort 
of barriers to movement of natural persons;  
 Allowing Flexibility to LDCs in undertaking comm itments and obligations  in order to permit 
them to adopt policy to meet the development needs; 
 Further extension of transition peri od allowed under TRIPS Agreement;  
  Technical assistance, including through Enhan ced Integrated Framework (EIF), targeted at: 
 Development and diversification of production and export base of LDCs 
 Addressing the supply side constraints; 
 Compliance by LDCs to the SPS and TBT requirements of the exporting countries; 
and 
 Trade policy capacity building. 
 Offsetting the negative effect for LDCs due to liberalization measures to be undertaken by the 
WTO members.  
40. Besides, Bangladesh also expressed its solidarit y to cotton producing countries by urging 
withdrawal of cotton subsidies and to acceding LDCs demanding first track accession of LDCs without requiring commitments from acceding country , which go beyond what is applicable for LDC 
members.  
41. As of 2012 Bangladeshi products receive duty fr ee and quota free treatment in all developed 
countries except in the United States.  As a resu lt, longer time proposed for reduction of tariff of 
apparel products along with faster tariff reduction fo r disproportionately affected countries in the US 
is going to make Bangladesh’s apparel products non-competitive in the US market. Therefore, 
Bangladesh expressed its legitimate demand for considering Bangladesh as disproportionately 
affected country and demanded simila r treatment with same principle. As an advocator of preferential 
market access in trade in services, Bangladesh led the discussions on LDCs’ Service waiver, which 
was adopted during the 8
th Ministerial Conference. Bangladesh will continue to attach priority to 
enhance its participation in services trade throug h the operationalization of the services waiver. 
42. Bangladesh accepted the protocol amending the TRIPS Agreement in December 2006. As per 
phase out plan of withdrawal of BOP restricti ons Bangladesh has notified the removal of all 
restrictions on salt and eggs imports.  Banglad esh was among the first countries to conduct trade 
facilitation needs assessment workshop in 2007.  Bang ladesh submitted its priority needs for technical 
and financial co-operation to the TRIPS Council in March 2010.   Bangladesh proposed specific 
projects worth US$71.04 million for fully and eff ectively implementing the TRIPS Agreement. 
43. Bangladesh has been advocating for flexible rul es of origin for LDCs under GSP in order to 
enable these countries to benefit from GSP faciliti es. Therefore, Bangladesh, on behalf of LDCs WT/TPR/G/270 Trade Policy Review 
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submitted a proposal on rules of origin. So far Bangladesh has benefitted from the duty free and quota 
free treatment provided by the countries of important  export destination, especially in the countries 
where rules of origin are more relaxed like in th e EU and Canada.  Bangladesh has also benefitted 
from capacity development activities of the WT O and WTO members. Bangladesh has joined 
Enhanced Integrated Framework (EIF) in Nove mber 2009. Bangladesh is now conducting Diagnostic 
Trade Integration Study (DTIS) with World Bank  as lead agency and the EU as donor facilitator. 
DTIS is expected to be completed by December 2012.  
V. BANGLADESH IN BILATERAL AND REGIONAL TRADE AGREEMENTS 
44.  Bangladesh is a party to a number of regiona l trade agreements namely South Asian Free 
Trade Area (SAFTA), Asia Pacific Trade Agreement (APTA), Framework Agreement on Bay of 
Bengal Initiatives for Multi-Sector al Technical and Economic Coope ration- BIMSTEC FTA, Trade 
Preferential System among the OIC countries (TPS-OIC) and Developing-8 (D-8) Preferential Trading Arrangement. 
45. During the period under review, Bangladesh h as implemented tariff re duction programme as 
per schedule of SAFTA and currently provides ar ound 50% tariff preference on items outside the 
sensitive lists to all SAARC Members. Under SAFT A, Bangladesh is going to reduce its tariff to 0-
5% by 2016. In a recent development, all SAARC c ountries have agreed to reduce the size of their 
sensitive list at least by 20% and tariff reduction on excluded items has commenced in 2012.  The 
SAARC Framework Agreement on Trade in Services was signed in 2010 and ratified by all countries 
except one. First round of negotiations on schedule of commitments began in 2010 and  is expected to 
be concluded in 2012. 
46. During the period under review, APTA memb er countries launched fourth round of 
negotiations in 2007. Since then three subsid iary agreements, namely Agreement on Trade 
Facilitation, Agreement on Trade in Services an d Agreement on Promotion and Protection of 
Investment have been finalized and signed by all APTA members. APTA Members are yet to conclude fourth round of trade negotiations. 
47. After signing the Framework Agreement on BIMSTEC FTA, three agreements on trade in 
goods, dispute settlement and mutual cooperation on customs matters have been finalized, which are 
yet to be signed by Member countries.  TPS OIC a nd D-8 PTA are expected to come into force soon. 
48. Bangladesh has bilateral trade agreements with 43 countries, all of which are general in nature 
and aimed at promoting bilateral trade. Bangladesh  has signed bilateral agre ements on promotion and 
protection of foreign investment with 29 countri es. Bilateral agreements on avoidance of double 
taxation with 27 countries are currently in force. There are agreements on joint economic cooperation 
in place with 18 countries, which aims to e xpand economic cooperation between the countries.  
VI. WAY FORWARD 
49. Bangladesh attaches great importance to trade as an engine of growth and development. 
Maximizing benefits from the opportunities evol ving under the multilateral trading system, 
Bangladesh has been trying to in crease contribution of trade to the overall economy with a view to 
achieving socio-economic goals.   
50. The Government of Bangladesh has adopted the strategic plan namely “Perspective Plan of 
Bangladesh (2010-2021): Making Vision 2021 A reality” to set out the socio-economic targets and to 
transform Bangladesh into a middle income country  by 2021.  As an important component of 
country’s economy, trade has been given special em phasis in the plan.  In the area of trade the Bangladesh WT/TPR/G/270 
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Government’s target is to ensure strengthened gl obal integration by building necessary trade-related 
supply side capacities. This will be realized th rough raising competitiveness of Bangladesh’s trade 
sector, ensuring a larger share for the country in  the global trade in goods and services, and by 
encouraging both product and market  diversification. This will be done by renewing efforts at moving 
up-market and by raising the efficacy of trade facilitation measures. Bangladesh’s strong performance 
in the global labour services market will be conti nued and further consolidated. The overarching goal 
is to raise the share of export of goods an d remittance earnings to GDP to 38% by 2021. 
51. As for future direction of trade policy reforms,  the plan sets to follow a gradual reduction in 
tariffs on imports of final goods with a faster reduc tion in tariffs on imports of capital machinery and 
intermediate goods. This option of tariff liberalisa tion will provide domestic firms access to globally 
priced intermediate and capital goods and offer im port competing domestic firms the required time to 
adjust to foreign competition. 
52. In addition, following strategies will be pursued to  achieve targets of the Perspective Plan in 
the area of trade and external sector: 
 To stimulate technology transfer and adoption,  fiscal incentives will be provided to users of 
that technology. 
 Support will be provided for market diversificati on so that Bangladeshi products are able to 
make inroads into new markets, including t hose of Japan, North-East Asia and regional 
markets. Special efforts will be taken to stimulate South-South trade. 
 Initiatives will be taken for intra-readymade garm ent diversification by investing in quality 
promotion. The private sector will be encourag ed to invest in fashion, design and quality 
control to facilitate up-market movement. Textiles should be treated as a thrust sector.  
 A vocational training system will be geared to wards developing the required human resources 
for export-oriented industries and export-oriented  investors so that Bangladesh is able to 
enhance her competitive edge in the global market. 
 The standards and quality of manufactured pr oducts and exports will be maintained and 
further improved by enhancing SPS-TBT assuran ce capacities. To that end, the Bangladesh 
Standards and Testing Institution will be strengthened in areas of quality assurance, 
accreditation and certification. 
 Export related institutions, including th e EPB (Export Promotion Bureau), BEPZA 
(Bangladesh Export Processing Zone Authority)  and SEZs (Special Economic Zone) will be 
given adequate support to be able to  provide necessary services to exporters. 
 To further strengthen Bangladesh’s foothold in the global services market through higher 
remittance earnings, by streamlining procedures for recruitment of overseas workers and by providing credit and other support to migrant workers. 
 To realise the potential benefits of expected openings in the global services market targeted 
programmes of skill up-gradation and traini ng, including language training, will be 
undertaken. Bangladesh’s vocational training system will be geared towards this. 
 Migrant workers’ remittances will be provide d with appropriate support and incentives to 
encourage investment in productive sectors. 
 Maximum efforts will be made to take adva ntage of the various preferential schemes and 
market access initiatives originating in the WTO and provided bilaterally. WT/TPR/G/270 Trade Policy Review 
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53. The plan envisages to further reduce trade barri ers within the context of the World Trade 
Organization (WTO) framework as well as to seek  more active cooperation with neighbours. 
Bangladesh will actively participate in concerned international and regiona l/sub-regional fora aimed 
at increasing Bangladesh’s access to  international export markets, easing and eventually eliminating 
any non-trade barriers to Bangladeshi exports, enc ourage investments, increase trade in services 
including energy, promote regional connectivity, an d establish best possible economic relations with 
all strategic countries including neighbours. 
54. The Government has already adopted the Sixth Five Year Plan (2011-2015) to achieve the 
targets set by the perspective plan. The Government has also undertaken an initiative to formulate a 
comprehensive trade policy covering all the aspects of trade related issues. The overall objective of 
the comprehensive trade policy is accelerated and sustainable growth of trade by adopting an 
integrated approach to achieve economic deve lopment that commensurate with the vision of 
becoming middle income country by 2021. The policy will make the trading system more efficient and tter prepared to maximize the benefits evolving  under the multi-lateral trading system. This policy 
will also enhance the level of coordination among th e various organizations and entities involved in 
trade related activities. Besides, steps are taken to amend the Company Act 1994, Trade Organization 
Act and Bangladesh Tariff Commission Act 1992 with  a view to upgrading those to cope with the 
changing business and trade environment. 
__________