The government will complete recruitment of 200 additional inspectors by October 15 mainly to meet one of the key requirements for the revival of GSP (generalised system of preferences) in the US market and retention of the duty-free facility in the EU countries, sources said.
The review meeting on the progress in line with the Sustainability Compact is scheduled to be held on October 20 in Brussels, they said adding that the government might face question during the meeting in case of failure in recruiting the said inspectors before that time.
So the government wants recruitment of 200 inspectors before the Compact review meeting, they added further.
The decision of recruitment was taken at the 25th meeting of the Social Compliance Forum for RMG (readymade garment) held at the secretariat.
Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed presided over the meeting where State Minister for Labour and Employment Mujibul Haque Chunnu, secretaries from ministries of commerce, labour and housing, leaders and representatives from the apparel sector, ILO (International Labour Organisation), EPB (Export Promotion Bureau) and BoI (Board of Investment) were also present.
The commerce minister has directed the commerce and labour secretaries to accelerate and complete the recruitment by October next through discussion with the Public Service Commission (PSC), meeting sources said.
"Some 88 inspectors have been appointed while we are trying to recruit the remaining ones by October 15," Labour Secretary Mikail Shipar told the FE after the meeting.
Earlier, the Compact initially set December 30, 2013 as the deadline for recruiting 200 additional inspectors. The government, however, sought time twice for the purpose due to non-completion of necessary formalities.
Failing to complete the recruitment by December deadline, the government had got extended timeframe until March. Then it further sought time until June 30 last and failed again, sources said.
The EU and Bangladesh government signed the Compact on July 8 last year and later the US joined the initiative.
The two are the major destinations for Bangladesh-made products.
According to sources, any further delay in recruitment of inspectors might lead to an adverse impact on the efforts to revive the GSP in the US and retain the same facility in the EU markets.
The meeting also discussed duplication of inspection by the western retailers and compliance standards in the garment factories during the last one year, they added.
