Bangladesh is yet to make any tangible progress in several key areas as far as the implementation of the US Action Plan, linked to the restoration of the GSP is concerned, the US embassy in Dhaka said in a note to the government of Bangladesh (GoB) recently.
The areas where the government could not make substantial progress include fire and building inspections, up-gradation of export processing zone (EPZ) law to international standards and stopping of harassment and intimidation of labour activists, the embassy has said in a review of the Plan.
The sub-committee on the US GSP (generalised system of preferences) Action Plan has reviewed the progress made in labour welfare by Bangladesh until December last year and asked the government to take more concrete steps to address the issues.
"While acknowledging some progress and positive developments, the subcommittee has concluded that more remains to be done to address several key elements of the Action Plan," the US embassy note said.
After suspending the GSP facility in July last year, the US government forwarded the Action Plan to the GoB for implementation to improve working conditions, workplace safety and labour welfare in Bangladeshi factories. A proper implementation of the Action Plan is likely to lead to revival of the GSP facility for Bangladeshi goods in the US market.
The note said implementation of the Action Plan to improve labour, fire, and building inspections just began and there was little evidence to date how the government and other stakeholders would address the issues found through those inspections.
It said although the GoB made some positive amendments to the labour law in July 2013, the law needed further amendments to address the most serious concerns of the ILO supervisory bodies. Moreover, no action had been taken to date to make changes in the EPZ law in conformity with international standards, which had been an issue in the GSP reviews in early 1990s.
The note said more evidence was needed to assess the GoB's initial efforts to end harassment and intimidation of labour activists, implement a system to respond effectively to complaints of unfair labour practices, implement fines and penalties and maintain a public database and a hotline.
However, the US has commenced steps including the start of industry-wide fire and building inspections based on new standards, registration of unions and labour-related non-government organisations (NGOs), resolution of the pending criminal charges against labour activists and the GoB's commitment to fund the two labour programmes in the shrimp processing sector.
The sub-committee also took positive note of the government's intensive engagement with international and domestic stakeholders on its plans for strengthening worker rights and worker safety, the embassy note said.
"We understand that Bangladesh faces many challenges in improving and reforming worker rights and worker safety and will take these challenges into account in assessing progress," it added.
The US also noted that the sub-committee would conduct its next review of the Action Plan in May and expressed hope that Bangladesh would make remarkable progress before that.
"We are hopeful that further progress will be made by the GoB and other stakeholders in implementing GSP Action Plan so that we are in a position, when appropriate, to make a recommendation to the President on reinstatement of Bangladesh's GSP benefits," the US embassy added.
© 2024 - All Rights with The Financial Express
