In the past, the EU relaxed its rules on the origin of undeveloped countries, which came into force on January 1st and widened the way of Bangladesh's export to the European Union.

TakashiSuzuki, a representative of the Japanese Foreign Trade Organization in Dhaka, said: "the relaxation of the origin rules may begin in April 1st."

The Japanese government will reduce the duty free import process of imported textiles from the developed countries to the 2 stage from the 3 stage plan. TakashiSuzuki added that Bangladesh will gain greater benefits as an underdeveloped country after the GSP changes have been proposed.

Once the new plan is implemented, knitwear manufacturers can export to Japan, even if the yarn of knitwear is imported.

According to the current three stage plan, knitwear exporters have to use fabrics made from local spinning, whether or not raw cotton is imported.

In order to protect the Japanese knitwear industry, Japan has imposed a 17% tariff on imported knitwear items from undeveloped countries.

However, the tax exemption mechanism has been enjoyed by the underdeveloped countries in the export of machine textiles to the Japanese market for a long time.

Rachman, vice president of Bangladesh knitwear manufacturers and Exporters Association, pointed out that the reality is that the Tokyo government has agreed in principle to relax the rules of bilateral trade, which was confirmed when Prime Minister hsihna visited Japan.

Rachman said: "I hope this proposal can help us improve the export of knitwear to Japan. For us, the Japanese market is a very potential market."

Bangladesh's clothing exporters are eager to get a foothold in the Japanese market, valued at $about 35000000000 / year.

In addition, Japanese clothing importers have turned to Bangladesh for clothing since 2008, when Tokyo adopted the commercial policy of China's +1.

Japan is eager to reduce its dependence on China. China is the biggest supplier of global clothing items, Rachman said.

In 2008 -2010, Bangladesh's clothing exports to Japan maintained a growth rate of 175%, Bangladesh's export promotion agency said.

Even with the import tax, Bangladesh knitwear exported to Japan in the first 10 months of the past fiscal year still amounted to US $60 million, an increase of 231% over the previous year, and the export of woven garments reached US $90 million, an increase of 121% over the same period last year.