Bangladesh is concerned regarding sustained international support after graduating from least-developed country (LDC) status as inaction in the recent 13th Ministerial Conference (MC13) of the World Trade Organization (WTO) recently, said the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) on Monday.
CPD said the country is likely to face more adverse impacts such as declining loss of preference; end of waiver regarding Trips, public health impacting the pharmaceuticals sector, eligibility to provide export subsidies, etc.
CPD, in partnership with FES Bangladesh, held the dialogue titled “What did WTO-MC13 Deliver for the Graduating LDCs? Perspectives from Bangladesh” on Monday.
Dr Debapriya Bhattacharya, distinguished fellow, CPD and former ambassador and permanent representative of Bangladesh to the WTO and UN Offices in Geneva, said: “We see the shifting alliances. The old north-south alliances do not hold in the WTO. There are issues in LDC countries, whether it is subsidies, or any other issue.”
“It won't be easy to determine the optimal choice at this particular moment,” he also added.
Fahmida Khatun, executive director, CPD, chaired the session.
Prof Mustafizur Rahman, distinguished fellow at CPD, delivered the keynote presentation.
He stated that there was growing divergence among major members regarding key negotiables such as fisheries subsidies; e-commerce, and peace clause concerning public stock holding, among others.
Bangladesh and other graduating LDCs are taking preparation towards smooth graduation. It was expected that MC13 would come up with concrete measures in support of sustainable graduation of the LDCs.
Outcomes of WTO-MC13
There was an early harvest on LDC graduation back in October last year, endorsed by the WTO General Council.
Members were encouraged to provide a smooth and sustainable transition period before withdrawing duty-free, quota-free (DFQF) preferences for graduating LDCs.
MC13 welcomed the decision, but also did not update their decision regarding the e-commerce moratorium.
At the recent meeting, it was agreed to maintain the current practice of not imposing customs duties on electronic transmissions until MC14, or 31 March 2026, whichever earlier.
The ministers also reaffirmed their commitment made at MC12 to work towards necessary reform of the WTO to improve all its functions.
They instructed the general council and its subsidiary bodies to continue to conduct this work and report progress to the next MC14 meeting.
Regarding a dispute settlement mechanism, the WTO officials instructed officials to accelerate discussions, build on the progress already made, and continue working on unresolved issues.
Why Bangladesh is concerned
According to the CPD, there was no distinction regarding extension of Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (Trips), as well as Trips' public health agreement waivers, applicable to graduating LDCs.
There was no agreement on fisheries subsidies. Future discussions will show to what extent the concerns of graduating LDCs have been reflected in any agreement on fisheries subsidies, if at all.
No mention was made as regards not putting export bans concerning trade with LDCs and graduating LDCs.
According to the think tank, Bangladesh will need to walk on three legs: as an LDC, as a graduating LDC and as a future developing country.
There is no group called graduating LDCs in the WTO. As a result, Bangladesh (like other graduating LDCs) will need to work in tandem and in solidarity with the group of LDCs.
However, Bangladesh has specific interests as a graduating LDC in the form of time bound extension of LDC-specific international support measures (ISMs) and in the form of any new measures (graduation support fund; debt waiver; technical and financial support towards sustainable graduation.)
As a key player in the LDC group, Bangladesh will need to take the lead in pursuing and advancing the interests of graduating LDCs, with support from the LDC group, in cooperation with developing WTO members and by pursuing the developed country members, the CPD added.
