Govt tightens procedures to issue GSP certificates

The Government has tightened procedures to issue GSP certificates to exporters in a bid to check misuse of the certificates that allow goods' duty-free access to the European market.

The Government move comes following an imposition of 12% security deposit by Germany on Bangladeshi garment imports. German authorities imposed the deposit in September 2007 following investigations that showed several companies had been exporting products to European countries using fake Bangladeshi GSP certificates.

As part of the measures the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) has asked commercial banks to maintain records of GSP (generalised system of preference) certificate users.

Earlier, a high-powered government team investigated the matter and found that some people in other developing countries had fake Bangladeshi GSP certificates in connivance with a section of local people to export products to EU countries