Commonwealth Trade MSME Exporter Portal

馃嚙馃嚛 Bangladesh 路 Category 7 of 9

Trade Agreements

Verified 路 28 Apr 2026

Bangladesh trades under WTO rules and regional deals like SAFTA and APTA, while its 2026 LDC graduation reshapes the preferences new exporters can rely on.

Overview

Bangladesh has been a WTO member since 1995 and, as a Least Developed Country, has long enjoyed duty-free quota-free access to major markets, most importantly the EU's Everything But Arms scheme, plus preferences in India, the UK, Canada, Japan, Australia and others. Regionally it is part of the South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA), the Asia-Pacific Trade Agreement (APTA), the D-8 Preferential Tariff Agreement and the OIC's TPS-OIC, and has a bilateral PTA with Bhutan. The pivotal change is LDC graduation, scheduled for November 2026: after graduation Bangladesh loses automatic LDC preferences, though the EU has a three-year GSP transition to 2029, and the government is negotiating an Economic Partnership Agreement with Japan and a CEPA with India to cushion the loss. For a small exporter this means: claim the LDC/GSP preference now with the right Certificate of Origin, but check the ITC Market Access Map for the tariff your buyer will actually pay and plan for rates to change after 2026.

Key requirements

  1. 1

    Correct preferential Certificate of Origin

    Claim GSP, SAFTA or APTA preference with the matching CO (Form A/GSP, SAFTA or APTA form) issued electronically via EPB / Single Window.

  2. 2

    Meet rules of origin

    Goods must satisfy the value-addition or transformation rules of the relevant scheme; LDC-specific relaxed rules end at graduation.

  3. 3

    Track LDC graduation timing

    Plan for phase-out of LDC preferences from November 2026, with the EU EBA/GSP transition running to 2029.

  4. 4

    Verify destination tariff

    Confirm the applied tariff and any quota via the ITC Market Access Map before pricing an export order.

  5. 5

    Watch new EPAs/CEPAs

    Monitor the Japan EPA and India CEPA negotiations, which may create new preferential access for specific product lines.

Documents you will need

  • Preferential Certificate of Origin (GSP / SAFTA / APTA)
  • Exporter declaration of origin / cost statement
  • Commercial invoice
  • Bill of lading or airway bill
  • Manufacturing / value-addition evidence
  • Import documents for inputs (for origin calculation)