\\\'BD to get back GSP if there\\\'s no politics\\\'

Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed on Wednesday said Bangladesh would get back duty-free trade benefits in the US market under the GSP scheme if politics does not enter the revival process, reports UNB.
"If the decision isn't taken on political grounds regarding GSP revival, we'll get back the GSP," he told journalists at his Secretariat office apparently urging the US administration to separate political issues from trade.
The Commerce Minister expressed his hope to overcome the shortcomings in implementing the GSP Action Plan prescribed by the US administration by March.
"If political issue is incorporated in GSP revival process even after fulfilling the conditions, then we'll never be able to fulfill the conditions," he explained.
Tofail's observation came a day after the clearing of US's position that says Bangladesh did not make any sufficient progress in improving labour standards to justify the GSP revival.
Earlier, an inter-ministerial meeting was held at the Commerce Ministry to examine the progress on Action Plan and Sustainability Compact implementation with Tofail Ahmed in the chair.
In late January, the US communicated to the government of Bangladesh their conclusion that Bangladesh has not made sufficient progress on the GSP Action Plan to warrant reinstatement of GSP benefits at that time and that they intend to conduct the next such review in May 2014.
The Commerce Minister said the government has taken all necessary steps to get back the GSP facility in the US market. "Most of the 16 conditions have already been addressed. The government is putting in its efforts to implement the rest of the conditions."
He said a report would be submitted (to USTR) by April 15 after fulfilling all the conditions by March 30. "We hope the GSP will be restored shortly."
Tofail said the government would soon recruit 200 inspectors and process of preparing a data base on RMG workers is at final stage.
Meanwhile, he said, issues related to Labour Law amendment for overcoming the shortcomings in the EPZs and trade union are also at the final stage.
Commerce Secretary Mahbub Ahmed, Foreign Secretary M Shahidul Haque, Labour Secretary Mikail Shipar, Export Processing Zone Authority Chairman Maj Gen M Habibur Rahman Khan, BGMEA President M Atiqul Islam and representative of the Prime Minister's Office were also present.
US's Observation
Slow progress in hiring labour inspectors, shortcomings in the amended labour law and lack of action to bring the EPZ law into conformity with international standards remain as the major roadblock to the reinstatement of GSP benefits to the US market.
Late last month, the US government conveyed to Bangladesh its conclusion that Bangladesh had not made sufficient progress to date under the Action Plan to warrant reinstatement of GSP benefits.
"…as has been conveyed with specificity to the government of Bangladesh, a great deal remains to be done to implement some of the most important elements of the (GSP) Action Plan," said Eric Biel, acting Associate Deputy Undersecretary for International Lbour Affairs at the US Department of Labour.
He said this while making his statement at a hearing to examine the 'prospects for democratic reconciliation and workers' rights in Bangladesh held at the US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations in Washington on Tuesday.
The plans for a larger, well-trained force of labor and fire and building safety inspectors are still in their initial stages, and the number of inspectors hired to date is relatively small, said Eric Biel.
He observed that labour law amendments enacted in July 2013 do not address the concerns raised in the Action Plan, including severe restrictions on collective bargaining, in particular at the industry and sector levels, nor inadequate protections against employer interference in union activity.
Eric Biel also said there also has not been enough progress in achieving justice for the 2012 murder of labour organiser Aminul Islam.
In addition, he said, EPZs (Export Processing Zones) remain governed by a separate labor law providing inferior protections for workers in those zones about which both we and the ILO have long expressed deep concerns.
The US Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) is a programme designed to promote economic growth in the developing world by providing preferential duty-free entry for up to 5,000 products when imported from one of 123 designated beneficiary countries and territories.
US President Barac Obama, on June 27, 2013, issued a proclamation suspending Bangladesh's GSP trade benefits based on the Bangladesh government's failure to meet the GSP statutory eligibility criterion of "taking steps to afford internationally-recognized worker rights to workers in the country."
At the time of the President's decision, the United States provided the government of Bangladesh with a GSP "Action Plan" listing specific actions that Bangladesh should take to provide a basis for reinstatement of GSP benefits. The Action Plan specifically calls for improving labor, fire, and building standards, removing obstacles to freedom of association and collective bargaining, and reforming labor laws.