PREFERENTIAL MARKET ACCESS UNDER EU GSP SCHEME AND BANGLADESH'S EXPORT SECTOR PERFORMANCE: EVIDENCE AND EMERGING ISSUES

This article evaluates the performance of Bangladesh’s export sector under the European Union’s Generalized System of Preferences (GSP). It discusses how tariff advantages shaped competitiveness in garments, jute, and frozen food while analyzing compliance requirements such as rules of origin. The paper highlights emerging issues like preference erosion under WTO rules and the adjustment costs of meeting stricter labor and environmental standards. It concludes by suggesting diversification, value addition, and institutional reforms as critical to sustaining export growth in a changing global trade regime.

The body expands on empirical evidence from customs data, factory surveys, and EU import records to illustrate export responses to GSP eligibility. Section One analyzes the garment sector, emphasizing how quota rents and preferential tariffs encouraged expansion but also exposed structural weaknesses. Section Two addresses non-traditional sectors, noting limited uptake of preferences due to capacity and compliance barriers. Section Three reviews EU monitoring mechanisms, including social clauses, and their political economy in Bangladesh. Section Four anticipates WTO harmonization pressures and the possibility of preference erosion. Section Five outlines strategic responses: institutional capacity building, technological upgrading, and policy advocacy at EU and WTO forums. The conclusion emphasizes balancing export dependence with structural competitiveness.