News Content

Bangladesh garment industry suffers Australian ban on its air freight

BANGLADESHI garment industry is struggling with delays to both imports and exports as security measures at Dhaka's airport are beefed up after several countries expressed concern.

Much of the trouble has been triggered by the Transparency International's 2015 Progress Report, an independent assessment of the enforcement of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development's (OECD's) Anti-Bribery Convention.

The Transparency report accuses the industry of using bribery to cover up sub-standard work, reports London's Loadstar.

The Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) have rejected the allegations, which it said were founded on poor research and made to destabilise the garment industry.

Nonetheless delegates from the UK Civil Aviation Authority last week urged Bangladesh to adopt new security measures within the next three months, insisting on a "three-layer security system" for Dhaka-London flights.

Concern over "flimsy" security at Dhaka Shahjalal International Airport have already led to a ban on air freight imports by Australia.

Australia last year imported US$607 million worth of goods from the country, 88 per cent of which were garments, according to the Export Promotion Bureau of Bangladesh.

The Dhaka airport authority has installed new scanning equipment, but garment manufacturers are complain that imports of raw materials and some accessories are being delayed - in some cases by up to two weeks.

And manufacturers are facing difficulties exporting. On December 19, Australia imposed a ban on all air freight imports over 500 grammes that originated in or transited through Bangladesh, Egypt, Somalia, Syria and Yemen, citing security concerns.

But if the freight travels through a third-party country such as Singapore or Hong Kong, and is declared as an import by local Customs, it can be re-exported to Australia on a new air waybill.