BD needs to do more: USTR

The United States has ruled out the possibility of reinstatement of Bangladesh's trade benefit under its generalised system of preferences (GSP) unless further progress is attained in certain areas, including labour rights and factory inspection.
Furthermore, the US government's trade wing wants effective collaboration among the government, private-sector stakeholders and the ILO (International Labour Organisation).
It is needed to cope with factory-safety issues in Bangladesh's apparel industry, the USTR (United States Trade Representative) office said after an interagency review of the ground situation and Dhaka's strong plea for restoring the trade facility in the US market-the single-largest destination for Bangladesh's main exportable, readymade garments.
"…Bangladesh has made progress over the last year to address fire and building safety issues in the ready-made garment (RMG) sector, further progress is needed, including addressing serious worker rights issues, before reinstatement of Bangladesh's trade benefits under the Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) can be considered," the USTR said after the review Friday.
United States Trade Representative Michael Froman made the USTR position available on its official website, in response to Bangladesh's last update, sent in mid-November in 2014, on progress made in line with the US-designed Action Plan.
Washington revoked trade benefits for Bangladesh in mid-2013 following tragedies in the Rana Plaza building collapse and Tazreen Fashions factory fire. More than 1,200 people were killed.
The USTR review found that under government oversight more than 2,000 safety reviews of factories had been carried out in the last year, most by teams organised by private-sector initiatives led by North American and European brands and retailers, resulting in the closure or partial closure of 48 plants.
The government of Bangladesh is responsible for inspection of several hundred more factories, the trade representative pointed out in regretting US inability to restore the trade facility for now.
"We urge the government to complete remaining factory inspections as soon as possible to prevent recurrence of workplace tragedies such as those that occurred in 2012 and 2013," Mr Froman said.
"There is more work to do, building on the collaboration between the government of Bangladesh, private-sector stakeholders, and the International Labor Organization, to address the concerns about factory safety in the apparel sector," he added.
The US government is concerned about continuing reports of "harassment and violence" against union activists seeking to establish new unions or to exercise their legal rights, the USTR statement said.
"We also urge the government to accelerate its efforts to ensure workers' rights and to take measures to address continuing reports of harassment of and violence against labour activists who are attempting to exercise their rights," it added.
There has also been little progress in advancing the labour-law reforms called for in the Action Plan, including changes to ensure that workers are afforded same rights and protections in Export Processing Zones as in the rest of the country, the statement went on listing the dos.
Suspending trade benefits did not directly hit Bangladesh's multi-billion-dollar clothing exports but it put pressure on the country and many of the world's largest garment and fashion companies, which sourced clothes from Bangladesh manufacturers.
In 2012, the total value of US imports from Bangladesh under GSP was $34.7 million. The top GSP imports from Bangladesh included tobacco, sports equipment, porcelain china, and plastic products.
When contacted, Labour Secretary Mikail Shipar said the government was addressing the complaints of harassment and violence against union activists.
"But the incidents are not so frequent as the USTR said."
He said two firms were hired to carry out the factory inspection under a government-ILO joint initiative.
The inspections would hopefully be completed by April next, he said.
Regarding the EPZ law, he said it was now a waiting the law ministry vetting.
"Necessary changes have been made in this regard, considering the entire scenario, including the interest of foreign investment and local employment," he noted.
munni_fe@yahoo.com