{'fraction_non_alphanumeric': 0.01053639846743295, 'fraction_numerical': 0.0, 'mean_word_length': 5.411042944785276, 'pattern_counts': {'":': 0, '<': 0, '<?xml version=': 0, '>': 0, 'https://': 0, 'lorem ipsum': 0, 'www.': 0, 'xml': 0}, 'pii_count': 0, 'substrings_counts': 0, 'word_list_counts': {'cursed_substrings.json': 0, 'profanity_word_list.json': 0, 'sexual_word_list.json': 0, 'zh_pornsignals.json': 0}}
Pruning the SAFTA Sensitive List of Bangladesh

A long list of products in sensitive list maintained by the member countries is one of the major weaknesses of SAFTA agreement for its effective operation. Present study analyzes the sensitive list of Bangladesh with a view to identify products for pruning. Pruning the sensitive list should follow justifiable method based on arguments and reasoning, particularly against the rationale behind keeping the products in the sensitive list. The study identified a set of sensitive products that could be pruned from the list taking into account their competitiveness, trade potentials and extent of revenue collected from those products. Analysis reveals that identified sensitive products, if pruned from the list, would have insignificant adverse effect on local industries since those are raw materials, intermediate products and capital machineries which have limited domestic production capacity. The method can be followed by other member countries of the SAFTA to prune their sensitive lists.