Garment exports not affected for US sanction on Rab officials: BGMEA

The local garment exporters are not worried about the sanction on some officials of the Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) as that move has not yet affected apparel shipment to the USA and other countries.

They made the remark as some newspaper has been saying that the US sanction on RAB officials has been affecting garment export to different countries, particularly in the UK and in the US, two major export destinations for the country.

Moreover, some reports said that a buyer has sent a separate condition from the UK in the letter of credit which might have a bad impact on payment of the shipped garment items.

"We are not worried at all as the shipment of garment items to the US and other countries has been rising significantly with the improvement of the covid-19 situation globally," said Faruque Hassan, president of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), the garment makers' platform.

No member from the BGMEA did lodge any complaint to the association yet, he said, adding that usually the members lodge complaints to the association office.

"In fact I do not know why such information is disseminated now when our export is growing to almost all major destinations," Hassan told The Daily Star over phone.

Hassan said he is expecting to export $10 billion worth of garment items to the USA, Bangladesh's single largest export destination, at the end of the current fiscal year as the export trend has remained high so far.

In July-December period of the current fiscal year, apparel shipment to the American market grew by 45.91 per cent to $4.23 billion.

Of the amount, $1.54 billion came from knitwear items, registering 57.48 per cent year-on-year growth.

The woven segment posted a 39.97 percent growth with exports worth $2.68 billion thanks to the recovery of the US economy from the severe fallouts of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Even a statement from the Bangladesh embassy in the USA said influential US Congressman and Chair of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs Gregory W Meeks said they do not want to impose any sanction against Bangladesh and there is an excellent relationship between the United States and Bangladesh.

"We want to make sure that we are not (imposing any sanctions) against Bangladesh and we are still working with the government and people of Bangladesh," he told a fundraising luncheon function at a restaurant in New York's Queens area, according to the statement.

Meeks, also an eminent lawyer, has been a US representative Democratic Party from New York since 1998 and serving as the chair of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs since 2021.

"We are not imposing any embargo against Bangladesh. The sanctions were imposed on some individuals of an organisation, not the entire organisation ... we are looking into the scenario there," he added.

The US Congressman said that a vested quarter from inside and outside Bangladesh is strongly lobbying for imposing sanctions against more officials and the politicians as well.

"But we will not do it as per their words ... it's not possible, and we'll take right steps after scrutinising all things," he said.

Meeks said that he will visit Bangladesh this year to see the human rights situation and other issues.

"Before then, I will talk to the State Department and Congress Sub-Committee on the Asia-Pacific ... if necessary we'll arrange a hearing in the Congress on Bangladesh issues," he said in the statement.

KI Hossain, president of Bangladesh Garment Buying House Association (BGBA), the platform of apparel foreign buyers' agents, said he received a letter of credit from one of his buyers from UK which said if any person is liable of sanctions by the UN and EU, US and other international organisations and local authorities, the payment might not be given to the exporters.

Although it is an old clause in international letters of credit (LCs) but it was not stipulated in the LC agreements earlier, he said.

For the first time, he received such clause after the sanction of seven RAB officials by the US government.

In near future the other international clothing retailers and brands might send such clause, he said.

BGMEA in a statement also today said recently the association has noticed some speculative media reports containing misleading information about the so called 'sanctions' against Bangladesh imposed by the USA and implication on trade and cross border transactions.

There is no evidence in support of such report, except a few anecdotes.

BGMEA issued this statement as a clarification in the general interest of its members, as well as in the interest of the economy at large, BGMEA said.

"Needless to mention that despite all the challenges caused by the pandemic, we successfully retained the confidence of the global brands on us," BGMEA said in the statement.