BSTI reform issue
A new approach is need of the time
One of the major non-tariff barriers facing Bangladesh's export to India centres on BSTI's product testing and certification which the latter has questions about. Actually, US$ 1 billion credit offered by India to Bangladesh does contain a provision for upgrading the BSTI facility. The central focus of the Indian loan being on infrastructure building and connectivity, the issue of modernising product testing and standardisation procedures calls for a specific, focused approach. Basically, for the good of our own consumer market and to meet international standards we have to do whatever we must in order to strengthen and re-equip the fragile Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institution (BSTI).
Our immediate concern is, of course, a rapid reduction in the trade imbalance with India. But even as a national standards body we should by now have had a fully-fledged and reputable testing and standards institution. After all, we have been no small an export performer in the world trade stage.
Over the decades since independence, there have been on-again, off-again efforts by the government to overcome the known shortcomings of BSTI. The level of government funding supplemented by development partners and International Trade Centre notwithstanding, the BSTI has yet to reach the level of competence required in a furiously competitive business world. Even local business shows lack of confidence in the institution.
In this context, we endorse an idea elaborated by a Business Star columnist lately. He advocates Public-Private-Partnership (PPP) in what he regards the underpinnings of product testing and certification as a 'revenue generator'. PPP could be forged with BSTI with all the technical and financial resources at the private sector's disposal with the diaspora participating in the act of providing world class testing and certification facility in the country.
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