Dhaka, Oct 4 (bdnews24.com)—Bangladesh will lobby the World Trade Organisation to bar Sri Lankan and Pakistani readymade garments from entering the US market with lower tariffs, Bangladesh Tariff Commission Chairman Md Mojibur Rahman said on Sunday.

Experts predict Bangladesh's apparel sector will suffer billions of dollars in losses if those of the two competing South Asian countries have the advantage of lower tariffs to the US, one of the largest markets for readymade garments.

Commerce ministry sources said Sri Lanka and Pakistan have recently been marked as "Disproportionately Affected Countries" due to war and other adverse conditions.

Discussions are now on to bring their tariff rates to the US down to five percent for five selected garment products within five years.

At present, garments from Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Pakistan all face a 15 percent tariff.

"Our US-bound clothing products will be seeing a 10 percent tariff cut within 10 years; if Sri Lanka and Pakistan get the same tariff cut in just five years, then our export is going to face huge negative impacts," Rahman told reporters after attending a meeting of the 'WTO high-powered committee' at the secretariat.

A WTO ministerial meeting is scheduled in Geneva from Nov. 29 to Dec. 2, following a LDC ministerial meeting in Tanzania from Oct 14 to 16. Mojibur Rahman heads the core committee to prepare for both summits.

An official from the WTO cell of the commerce ministry told bdnews24.com that the five garment products of Sri Lanka and Pakistan proposed for a five percent tariff rate are 50 percent identical with Bangladeshi ones. If the facility is in place, it is obviously going to hit Bangladeshi exports, the official said.

The official, who did not want to be named as he was not authorised to speak to the press, said Pakistan and Sri Lanka will be able to negotiate until next year.

Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) executive director and member of the WTO high-powered committee Mostafizur Rahman said, "Bangladesh should initiate its move on the tariff issue during the upcoming LDC meeting with the help of common interest countries like Cambodia and Nepal."

Anwar-Ul Alam Chowdhury Parvez, former president of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturer and Exporter Association (BGMEA), told bdnews24.com, "Sri Lanka and Pakistan are already enjoying more facilities in the US market than us. Moreover, Sri Lanka's growth is higher due to political stability."

Of Bangladesh's total export earnings projected for the current fiscal year, a massive 79.46 percent is expected to come from knit and woven garments alone, 41.46 percent from knitwear and 38 percent from woven.

Bangladesh earned $642.83 crore from knitwear and $591.85 crore from woven wear in FY 2009, with 14.54 percent growth in woven and 16.21 percent in knit exports.

Commerce ministry sources said Bangladesh will table nine issues in the WTO meeting including free tariff entry to the US for 100 product, market expansion of non-agro products, preservation of intellectual property rights, further facilitating the overseas labour market, inclusion of Bangladesh's interests in international dumping and anti-dumping policy.

As many as 97 percent Bangladeshi products enter the US market under tariff free facilities, but those do not include readymade garment or leather goods, two of the country's major exports.