He said the list of items has been prepared on the basis of the country's exiting export basket, the GSP facilities it is enjoying, the goods being imported by major countries and the prediction of its future export items.

The commerce minister was speaking at the first meeting of a high profile committee on the WTO (World Trade Organisation) at the conference room of his ministry at the Secretariat here.

Advisor of the Commerce Ministry Barkat Ullah Bulu, Commerce Secretary MA Karim, President of Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) Mir Nasir Hossain, President of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) Tipu Munshi, among others, attended the meeting.

The commerce minister said two separate lists have been prepared of the country's export items, which are to receive duty- and quota-free facilities in the international markets. One of the lists has a total of 1,017 goods and the second list was made with 276 items, he added.

Altaf Hossain said effective measures have been taken to ensure duty-free facilities for the least developed countries' products for marketing them in the developed countries by September this year.

On the other hand, he said, the least developed countries would provide duty-free market facilities for the developed countries' goods by December 2006.

Officials said Bangladesh exported a total of 602 items to the USA last year. Of them, 369 items, including 314 textile products, have been exported without receiving any duty facility from the USA.

Besides, a total of 108 items have been exported with duty-free facility under the MFN rate and another 125 exported under GSP facility to the USA market.