BD to face hearing at USTR office in Jan

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Syful Islam Bangladesh will face a hearing at the office of the United States Trade Representatives (USTR) next month on the labour rights issue, officials said Wednesday. This is for the third time Bangladesh is facing the hearing as the American Federation of Labour and Congress of Industrial Organisations (AFL-CIO) has filed a petition at the USTR office citing that labourers in the apparel and frozen food sectors here are not allowed to establish trade union. The first hearing was held in October 2007, followed by the second one in April 2009. After the hearings the generalised system of preferences (GSP), under which the United States (US) offers Bangladesh duty-free facilities in its market, was put on review. The US officials that time informed the Bangladeshi officials that during the review period the developments on the labour rights issue have to be visible and need to be continued. If they find any substantial development in the labour rights issue, Bangladesh will be put out of review. During the two hearings Bangladesh informed the USTR through pre- and post-briefs about the steps taken to ensure labour rights in Bangladesh. After that Bangladesh is continuously enjoying the GSP facilities in some products while exporting those to the US market. Sources said the ministry of commerce (MoC) last week received a letter from the embassy of Bangladesh in Washington which informed that the third hearing at the office of the USTR will be held on January 24, 2012. The MoC has also been informed that a pre-brief will have to be sent to the USTR by January 10 next. The letter also mentioned that if the decision of the hearing at the USTR goes against Bangladesh, the US may cancel the facilities given to Bangladeshi goods under the GSP scheme. It will cast a long-lasting impact on the country's top foreign currency earner apparel industry and on the sectors like banking, insurance, and shipping, it mentioned. Sources said MoC officials will sit today (Thursday) to prepare a pre-brief for the USTR. The brief will include the development Bangladesh carried out so far to ensure labour rights and their social positions. Meantime, the US labour department has employed an international organisation to carry out a survey on the presence of child labour in the apparel sector of Bangladesh. Talking to the FE, however, MoC officials and apparel sector leaders have denied the presence of child labour in the sector. Sources said the Bureau of International Labour Affairs of US Department of Labour has recently appointed an international survey institution named ICF Marco, to carry out a survey on the Bangladesh's apparel industry to determine the presence of child and forced labourers working here. The ICF Marco has engaged the RTM International, a Bangladeshi organisation, to carry out the task. "Bangladesh doesn't allow employment of any child or forced labourer in the apparel industry. The workers here are adult," a senior MoC official told the FE. Some four million workers are employed in around 5,000 apparel factories of Bangladesh, nearly 80 per cent of whom are women. The apparel industry is the country's major foreign currency earner. Talking to the FE, President of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) Shafiul Islam (Mohiuddin) earlier said there is no child or forced labour in his sector. "The government survey as well as the monitoring of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) couldn't find the presence of any child labour in the apparel sector," he claimed. BGMEA Vice-President Siddiqur Rahman said his organisation regularly monitors the labour situation in the apparel industry. "Our monitoring team couldn't find any child or forced labour in the sector," he said.