Al Amin :
Like economic cadre, BCS Trade Cadre is likely to merge with the Administration Cadre as the Commerce Ministry finds no way to strengthen the cadre service to deal with international trade.
Official sources said that the new systems are being introduced with the aim of maximizing the benefits from the international trade. Bilateral or regional trade agreements, alliances, Preferential Trading Agreement (PTA) and Free Trade Agreement (FTA) have been set up in this regard.
The PTA and FTA are currently considered as the most important systems in the field of foreign trade growth. Benefit from the agreements or arrangements largely dependent on the proper negotiation and it is not possible without permanent and skilled human resources, they said.
BCS Trade cadre officials are groomed by particular standards of education and training that make them specialists in dealing with international trade, strategies, policy measures and so on, they added.
Following this, the government set up the Trade Cadre service under the Commerce Ministry to create permanent and experienced officer to protect commercial interests at home and abroad on September 1, 1980.
The recruited officers were appointed at the Department of Controller of Imports and Exports, Directorate of Coal, Department of Supply and Inspection, Department of Prices and Marketing Intelligence and some other departments under the Commerce Ministry.
Besides, the officers were also appointed as commercial councilor at different Bangladeshi missions abroad to intensify trade agreement with the concern countries.
Initially, the meritorious students used to choose the cadre service to be posted in different Bangladeshi missions abroad.
But the posts of the trade cadre service started reducing after shutting down of the Directorate of Coal, Department of Supply and Inspection and opening commercial councilor posts for all cadres.
The officials said that the country is signing various trade agreements with other countries in regular basis to expand markets for Bangladeshi products. But the permanent, dedicated and experienced officers are more important to get benefit from the agreement.
Under this situation, officers of the cadre service have been bargaining with the ministry for the last few years to strengthen it by increasing officers.
The Commerce Ministry also formed a committee headed by additional secretary (Admin) of the ministry to create new post and reformation of the cadre service. But they did not get any good response from the government.
Getting no way, the officers now want to merge with the Administrative Cadre and send a proposal to the Public Administration Ministry with the recommendation of the Commerce Minister recently.
The Public Administration Ministry, however, is yet to take any decision in this regard, official sources said.
