Bangladesh’s apex garment makers’ body the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) has called upon the country’s Government to review the rule, recently issued by the Ministry of Shipping (MoS), pertaining to the Bangladesh Flag Vessels (protection of interest) Act 2019, aimed at averting any interruption in the country’s trade and supply chains.
This is as per media reports which added the President of garment makers’ body, Faruque Hassan, on 2 March wrote a letter to the MoS in this direction requesting it to review the matter even as the trade body maintained there would be severe impediments in movement of local garment exports, if the foreign feeder operators are flushed out under the Act, or if they withdraw their Bangladesh coverage while also noting that under the foregoing circumstances, the requirement of waiver certificate has no rationale, as only 9.0 per cent of the total is fulfilled by Bangladeshi flag vessels’ carrying capacity.
Bangladesh’s 91 per cent trade is thus dependent on foreign feeder vessels, the BGMEA reportedly said even as reports suggest there is chaos in the shipping sector in recent period over issuing waiver certificates for the foreign flag carriers after the MoS issued the rule to facilitate the Act of 2019, which created hassles for overseas shipping firms, as they need to convince a few trade-bodies or organisations to get ‘waiver certificate’.