Garment exports from Bangladesh to China and Japan soared in the last fiscal (2015-16). This was the strongest sign yet of the growing stature of the country’s apparel sector in global trade.
Last fiscal, garment exports to Japan stood at $774.47 million, up 18.68 per cent year-on-year, according to a data of the Export Promotion Bureau.
Some $341.22 million of garment items were shipped to China in 2015-16 (an increase of 11.9 per cent from a year earlier). The reason for the uptick is the recent relaxation of the rules of origin (Roo) by the governments of the two countries.
The Roos are the criteria used to determine the national source of a product and they vary from country-to- country. Their importance is derived from the fact that duties and restrictions in several cases depend on the source of import.
For instance, Bangladesh has duty-free access for its garment products even for items made from imported fabrics to the Japanese market.
For many years now, Bangladesh has been enjoying duty benefits on its woven garment exports to Japan and from April last year its knitwear shipments were given the same privilege.
