India announces slew of measures to enhance Indo-Bangladesh trade

New Delhi, July 22 (UNI) India today said the Bureau of Indian Standards has signed an MoU with its Bangladesh counterpart, the Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institution, with six laboratories in Bangladesh now recognised for the purposes of testing and certification in textiles and consumer products.

This will pave the way for a mutual recognition agreement soon, said Minister of State for Commerce Jairam Ramesh at the launch of the Indo-Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Dhaka.

Mr Ramesh informed that on August 6, a delegation from India will reach Bangladesh to identify laboratories, which can be accredited for testing in biscuits, cement and processed foods.

''We are ready to provide financial and technical assistance, if needed, so as to enable laboratories and testing centres in Bangladesh to meet our standards,'' Mr Ramesh said.

Undoubtedly, India, like Bangladesh, has a variety of non-tariff barriers (NTBs), imposed to protect Indian industry and trade. We have set up a Task Force to remove those NTBs that distort free and fair trade, he added.

Mr Ramesh said that a testing facility for hilsa fish will be set up at Petrapole since the Bangladesh businessmen had complained of the lack of such facilities at the station, constituting to a non-tariff barrier.

The upgradation of five land custom stations, where Bangladesh has corresponding inland ports- Petrapole, Hilli and Changrabandha in West Bengal, Agartala in Tripura and Dawki in Meghalaya has been taken up, the minister said.

''An investment, close to 80 million dollars, is envisaged and we expect projects to be completed in the next two years,'' he added.

Mr Ramesh said India would like to access the new mooring terminal at Chittagong Port, the request for which has been pending for over two years now.

UNI