Govt to review trade deal with US: Zahed

Amid growing criticism from political parties and policy think-tanks, Prime Minister’s Information and Broadcasting Adviser Dr Zahed Ur Rahman said on Tuesday that the government was considering reviewing and renegotiating parts of the Bangladesh-US reciprocal trade agreement instead of scrapping it immediately. 

Speaking at a weekly press briefing at the Press Information Department (PID) in the capital, Zahed said Dhaka wants to revise provisions considered potentially harmful to national interests while avoiding risks to bilateral and trade relations with the United States.

“We want to review the agreement and reach a negotiation with the United States under the second chance of the deal,” he said.

The Prof Muhammad Yunus-led interim government signed the agreement with the USA just three days before the 13th parliamentary election held on 12 February this year. Since then, left-leaning political parties and think-tanks have criticised the deal as imbalanced and contrary to Bangladesh’s broader national interests.

Zahed said the agreement allows cancellation through a 60-day written notice and also permits revisions through bilateral negotiations. “First, we will identify the provisions we consider most problematic and potentially harmful to the state. We hope we will be able to reach a negotiation with them,” he said. He also warned that the USA could reimpose reciprocal trade tariffs on Bangladesh if Dhaka withdrew from the agreement.

At the same briefing, the adviser said the government plans to procure around 95 million doses of 10 types of vaccines through UNICEF to strengthen the national immunisation programme. The government has already provided $83.6 million to UNICEF for procuring vaccines including MR, TD, BCG, TCV, OPV and Penta.

He said the full vaccine supply would arrive by September and there would be no shortage for the next eight to 12 months. Bangladesh began receiving consignments this month, including 1.5 million IPV doses on 3 May, 1.5 million MR doses and 900,000 TD doses on 6 May, raising the total stock to 13.2 million doses by 10 May.

Zahed said the target of administering MR vaccines to 18 million children aged between six months and five years had already been achieved and urged guardians of uncovered children to visit nearby vaccination centres. Expressing concern over rising child deaths from measles, he said the government was closely monitoring the situation and working to prevent further fatalities.

The adviser also highlighted the modernisation and expansion of Eastern Refinery Limited (ERL) project, which aims to raise the country’s crude oil refining capacity from 1.5 million tonnes to 4.5 million tonnes annually by November 2030 to strengthen energy security.

He said ERL resumed operations on 8 May after a three-week shutdown and no load shedding was recorded in the country until 11 May.

Ahead of Eid-ul-Azha, the government will set up a central control room at the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) office in Dhaka from 20 to 31 May to ensure smoother travel for holidaymakers.

Special launch services will also operate from Basila and Shimulia ghats, while Point of Sale (POS) machines will be installed at toll plazas of 12 bridges by 20 May to strengthen automated toll collection.

Zahed further said Boro paddy harvesting in seven haor districts reached 84.81% following bumper production this season.

Boro cultivation covered 455,153 hectares in Sylhet, Sunamganj, Habiganj, Moulvibazar, Kishoreganj, Brahmanbaria and Netrokona districts. Harvesting has been completed on 374,757 hectares, while rainfall since 7 May submerged crops on around 1,315 hectares.

He said the government procured around 1,510 tonnes of paddy and 4,050 tonnes of rice between 3 and 10 May under its procurement drive. The overall target is to procure 18 lakh tonnes of paddy and rice, including 500,000 tonnes of paddy, 12 lakh tonnes of parboiled rice and 100,000 tonnes of atop rice.

Additional Secretary Mohammad Yasin and Principal Information Officer Syed Abdal Ahmed were present at the briefing.