The government might face questions at a review meeting, for its failure to meet some of the major conditions set by the Sustainability Compact, informed sources said.
The Compact will review Bangladesh's performance in implementing the conditions at the meeting, scheduled to be held in Brussels on October 20, where European Union (EU) Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht, and representatives from the US, Canada, Netherlands, the UK and ILO will be present, they mentioned.
According to them, Bangladesh has failed to comply with some important conditions of the Compact, including recruitment of 200 additional inspectors, and formulation of rules to implement the labour law and the EPZ law.
Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed will lead the Bangladesh delegation in the meeting. Secretaries of foreign affairs, commerce and labour ministries, and representatives from BGMEA, BKMEA, Bangladesh Employers Federation, BUET and labour organisations will accompany him. Representatives from Accord and Alliance are also expected to join the meeting.
The EU and the government signed the Compact in last July, and later the US joined the initiative.
The Compact initially set December 30, 2013 as the deadline for recruiting 200 additional inspectors. The government, however, sought time thrice for the purpose due to non-completion of necessary formalities.
Failing to complete the recruitment process by the deadline, the government had got the timeframe extension until March, then June and then again until October 15.
Appointing the 200 additional inspectors was one of the key requirements for the revival of the GSP (generalized system of preferences) in the US market and retention of the duty-free facility in the EU countries. The US and the EU are the major destinations for Bangladeshi exports.
However, at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) ministerial meeting in Paris on June 26, Karel De Gucht, EU trade commissioner, in his speech called on the Bangladesh government to accelerate the recruitment of inspectors and publish the inspection results.
The government is yet to formulate the rules to implement the labour law even one year after it was amended, people involved with the process said.
Moreover, it has also missed the revised deadlines, as it still needs more time to complete the task.
According to them, any further delay in meeting the conditions might lead to an adverse impact on the efforts to revive the GSP in the US market and continue enjoying the same benefit in the EU market.
When asked, Labour Secretary Mikail Shipar said at a meeting at the secretariat Sunday they have discussed the progress so far made in this regard and how to present them in the review.
Regarding the recruitment, he said some 88 inspectors have already been recruited, while the list of the rest 150 will be announced before October 20.
"The recruitment was delayed due to some procedural complexities that have been removed. Now there is no barrier in completing the process," he added.
However, sources said at least one to two months will be required for completing the recruitment procedure, including police verification and health test, after announcement of the names.
The National Tripartite Committee will approve the draft of the rules in its next meeting on October 16, the labour secretary said, adding one to two months more will be needed for verification.
"We will inform about the required time in the Compact review meeting."
The new EPZ law has been sent for the law ministry's vetting, and will be finalized in the parliament soon.
"There is no condition that has remained untouched. Work is going on."
Some 2,061 out of 3,500 garment factories have been assessed by Accord, Alliance and BUET, and production has been suspended in 29 units due to structural flaws. Since January 2013 till date, 236 trade unions have been registered, he noted.
Munni_fe@yahoo.com