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Bringing Bangladesh under the United States Trade Representative’s (USTR) Special 301 Review on Intellectual Property Right (IPR) Protection and Enforcement will be unjustified and detrimental to the country’s efforts to combat IP rights violations, the commerce ministry has said.
This is because the country is committed to further enhancing the capacity of the administrative, judicial, and law enforcement authorities concerned, which will also include steps to get support from interested international partners.
The government is always ready to work with the development partners to address any unfair trade activities and build a foundation for the best IP practices, which will bring sustainable development for legitimate businesses with more job opportunities, said the ministry in a letter on February 24.
The ministry sent the letter to the USTR as the latter had earlier asked Bangladesh to clear its position on the matter.
The USTR’s move came after the Paris-based Union des Fabricants (Unifab) and the American Apparel and Footwear Association (AAFA), an influential organisation of American brands, alleged on January 26 and January 30 respectively that Bangladesh is exporting counterfeit clothes and other goods of the popular US and French brands.
On February 10, the US Department of State informed Bangladesh about the special 301 review and asked it to send its explanation before midnight (Washington time) on February 13. However, the commerce ministry sought more time and finally cleared its stance on February 24.
The ministry replied that a very high-level committee headed by the principal secretary to the prime minister has been formed to address IPR issues about Bangladesh and also prepare the country to be fully compliant with the best international practices.
It further said Bangladesh also expects proper guidelines and support from the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) as well as bilateral support from other countries to deal with the production of counterfeit goods anywhere in the globe.
“Moreover, as a least developed country, Bangladesh is trying its best to follow the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) related issues through the domestic rules which have been improved in recent times.
“We express our readiness for further discussion opportunities with the USTR on this issue,” the ministry said.
It reiterated that a possible inclusion of Bangladesh in the special 301 review based on the allegations made by the AAFA and Unifab would be unjustified as well as detrimental to the country’s efforts to combat IP rights violations and measures to promote the growth and development of industries.
Also, the ministry urged the USTR to consider the response from the right perspective, especially in light of the agency’s recent acknowledgement of the progress made in Bangladesh with regard to IP protection.
The ministry further said the AAFA allegation does not appear to be supported by any specific evidence that counterfeit production is growing in Bangladesh. It also said the country has 12 acts and rules to prevent counterfeiting and ensure copyrights.
According to the letter, Bangladesh has a strong online trading rule, and none of the Bangladeshi online platforms has cross-border business. Besides, Shopee and Lazada are not even Bangladeshi platforms, though the AAFA and Unifab claimed so.
In addition, Bangladeshi online platforms are not very active sellers in the global market.
“Bangladesh does not have any jurisdiction beyond its border to enforce IPR, but stands ready to cooperate if any complaints or reports are received from the competent authorities of other countries where the alleged online platforms are hosted,” the ministry said in the letter.
Reply to OECD-based allegation
The AAFA in its allegation referred to a study by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), saying the body ranked Bangladesh as one of the top five provenance economies for exporting counterfeit clothing after China, Turkey, Hong Kong, and Vietnam.
According to the AAFA, the study said Bangladesh is also among the top counterfeiters in other categories, including leather articles and handbags, footwear, and jewellery.
The commerce ministry in its reply said the OECD study, as mentioned in footnote 10 of the AAFA allegation, has not identified Bangladesh even among the top 25 provenance economies of counterfeit and pirated goods.
The OECD study said a number of developed and developing economies, including the US (sixth position), are among the top 25 provenance economies, according to the ministry.
The ministry also said the study only identified Bangladesh as a provenance economy with the propensity to export counterfeit products with a GTRIC-e rating of 0.661 and placed the country in the 16th position in that category.
According to the ministry, the study mentioned that 90 per cent of the global seizure of counterfeit products came from five countries and Bangladesh is not one of those.
Referring to the study, the ministry further said Bangladesh was not mentioned as a counterfeiting source for leather articles and handbags, footwear, and jewellery.
Also, Bangladesh is not even on the list of the relative likelihood of countries for counterfeiting of these products, the ministry added.
