The main opposition party BNP plans to send a letter to Washington requesting reconsideration of its decision to suspend the Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) facility for Bangladeshi products.
Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir. acting secretary general of BNP, made this disclosure on Saturday at a press briefing at the Nayapaltan party office.
He said the comment the information minister made about BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia’s role behind the cancellation of the GSP facility was not true.
Information Minister Hasanul Haq Inu on Friday said: “Khaleda Zia wrote a letter to the US government. That letter prompted the US to suspend the GSP facility for Bangladesh.”
The office of the United States Trade Representative suspended the GSP facility on Thursday after a group of influential US congressmen created pressure to strip Bangladesh of the facility, protesting lax monitoring of factory standards that lead to tragedies like Tazreen factory fire and Rana Plaza collapse.
Bone china, tents, spectacles, golf equipment, porcelain kitchenware and headgear were among about 5,000 products Bangladesh could export to the US under GSP.
Garments and textile products, however, have never gotten the GSP facility in the US market.
