Govt to examine progress in factory safety, labour welfare tomorrow

The government will review tomorrow (Tuesday) the progress achieved so far in ensuring workplace safety and labour welfare with a view to revival of the generalised system of preferences (GSP) in the United States (US) market, sources said.
Three government secretaries --- from commerce, foreign affairs and labour ministries --- will sit with the stakeholders and relevant government bodies to take a look at the achievements and remove the obstacles that are hindering the progress.
Commerce secretary Mahbub Ahmed will preside over the meeting, to be held at the ministry's conference room.
According to the relevant documents, the progresses regarding action plans offered by the US, the European Union (EU) action plan, and the decisions taken by the cabinet committee on the ready-made garment (RMG) industry will be reviewed at the meeting.
Following the collapse of the RMG factory-accommodating building Rana Plaza and the fire at Tazreen Fashions, the US administration last June suspended the GSP facility for Bangladeshi goods in its market.
At the same time, the EU cautioned about reviewing the GSP facility in its market for Bangladeshi goods.
Following these incidents, Bangladesh has taken various steps to comply with the US and EU requirements regarding ensuring workplace safety and welfare of workers.
The commerce secretary earlier told the FE that various steps had been taken for workers' welfare at the Bangladeshi factories.
He said necessary changes have been brought to the country's labour law as per the buyers' requirements.
A senior commerce ministry official told the FE Sunday he was hopeful of revival of the GSP facility in the US market by next June as many steps had been taken to ensure workplace safety.
"The progresses made so far are commendable. We are hopeful of immediate revival of GSP in the US market," he said adding, "Continuation of GSP facility in the EU market is also expected."
The official said necessary inspections of factory buildings were going on. Some 50 new inspectors have already been appointed after the Rana Plaza incident, while steps are there to appoint nearly 400 inspectors by the end of the current year.
He said wages for the apparel factory workers have been raised so that they can cope with the increased commodity prices.
However, he said the ongoing political stalemate had been creating barriers to achieving the targets regarding implementation of various workers' welfare-related steps.