Entire garment industry of Bangladesh is under threat, as two of its biggest umbrella organizations are at loggerheads over bonded warehouse facility.
The organisations in question are Bangladeh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BAGMEA) and Bangladesh Textile Mills Association (BTMA), and both warring factions have not let any holds barred in the media. After the BTMA President, M A Awal speaking out on the issue, it was BGMEA President Annisul Haque's turn to go to the press to counter the comments by the former.
Haque feared that the disputes remaining unresolved may harm the image of the country, affecting garments exports that will decline substantially.
BTMA's Awal had earlier pointed out the fact that fabrics worth $1.5 billion were being sold yearly misusing the Utilisation Declaration (UD) was untrue, according to Haque and the total investment in the textile sector is Tk 70 billion not Tk 150 billion.
"Now, the image of the country and future of apparel industry has become a major factor after the phase-out of the Multi-Fibre Arrangement (MFA). The local producers have to follow a lot of compliances demanded by the buyers. But such allegations against one another have been creating a potential threat to the whole sector," Annisul Haque said.
"Unless Mr Awal do not withdraw his comments within seven days or does not seek apology from the BGMEA members, we would go for tough legal action against him." Annisul Haque said.
He further denounced Awal's statement saying almost all information revealed by him (Awal) at the BTMA press conference was false, baseless and deliberate.
Haque blamed vested interests behind the declining trend of woven export in the European markets.
Despite the recent imposition of phyto-sanitary measures being imposed under the WTO regime, RMG export to the USA markets rose while those to the EU markets declined substantially.
He said the woven export to EU markets declined by 21.28 per cent during the first four months of the current year compared with the corresponding months in the previous year.
Squarely blaming BTMA, Haque argued that central bonded warehouse (CBW) and SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Countries) cumulation were not opposed by this organisation the woven export to the EU markets may not have witnessed 8.04 percent decline.
Finally, Haque urged BTMA leaders and members to refrain from making irresponsible and provocative statement to seve the country interests, at large.
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