A high-powered European Union (EU) trade mission will visit Bangladesh in mid-October mainly to review Bangladesh's eligibility to retain the Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) facility there, officials said.
During its three-day visit from October 14, the mission is scheduled to hold meetings with authorities concerned and oversee labour rights situation in the country in line with International Labour Organisation's (ILO) conventions in return for the EU's trade benefits under the EBA (everything but arms) regime, they added.
The EU delegation to Bangladesh in a letter on July 29 informed the commerce and labour secretaries about the mission's upcoming visit.
"The purpose of this letter is to announce the intention to undertake the mission to Bangladesh by EU services for a follow-up EBA meeting from October 14-16 this year, in the week preceding the EU-Bangladesh Joint Commission meeting," the letter reads.
The EU-Bangladesh Joint Commission meeting will be held on October 21, it added.
The EU delegation's visit to Bangladesh was announced after its move to increase its scrutiny of the enforcement level of GSP regulations amid rising exports from beneficiary countries, including Bangladesh, ministry sources said.
"One of the objectives of the mission is to discuss the latest labour law reforms in Bangladesh and collect necessary information to be able to report on developments and progress made on the remaining issues in the forthcoming biennial GSP report for the European Parliament and the EU member states represented in the Council," the European Commission's (EC) trade director Ewa Synowiec said in a separate letter to the commerce and labour secretaries of Bangladesh.
Bangladesh's exports under the EBA to the EU countries saw over 12 per cent growth in 2017.
The impact of the enhanced engagement process will thus be a major element of the next biennial report to be published on January 01 next year, she said.
The EC commissioner also asked Bangladesh authorities to submit a written response to the developments on some issues in terms of compliance with the core United Nations' (UN) and ILO's Conventions on human and labour rights.
The issues included developments on full alignment of the labour law whether it is applicable to the Export Processing Zones and labour rules comply with ILO conventions 87 and 98 related to right to organize and collective bargaining.
It also wanted to know about the developments on the protection against acts of anti-union discrimination, registration of trade union and shortcomings in legal alignment with ILO conventions.
When asked, labour secretary KM Ali Azam said they will sit with ministries concerned after Eid holidays to prepare the responses and send them by September 01.
The mission's visit will possibly concentrate on a few issues including trade union, child and forced labour and EPZ law being aligned with Bangladesh Labour Act, Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) president Dr Rubana Huq told the FE on Saturday.
"We welcome the mission," she said adding, "this would give us an opportunity to make our position clear to the visitors."
"We have come a long way and the discussion cannot be on only over generalised comments and observations. And we must also make our position clear on self-monitoring and RSC (RMG Sustainability Council) so that they understand that our focus is on the workers and environment as well," Ms Huq added.
Besides, they are also going to explain that only number or threshold or quantity cannot be the only determining factor of the country's overall level of compliance.
EU is the single largest destination of Bangladeshi made exportable goods.
About 62 per cent or $21.13 billion out of total $34.13 billion readymade garment products from Bangladesh were shipped to EU in the just-concluded fiscal year 2018-19, according to the BGMEA data.
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