Support for B'desh RMG products growing in West

Nizam Ahmed Supports to retain Bangladesh as the main source of ready-made garment (RMG) products have been on the rise in the Western world. This turns out to be a propitious development despite insistence of certain quarters to make the United States (US) and the European Union (EU) stop buying relevant merchandise from Bangladesh in the wake of the recent building collapse that killed 1,127 workers and maimed scores. Being encouraged by the growing support for the Bangladesh garment sector in the Western world, leading garment manufacturers hope that instead of deserting the country's apparel sector, the Western buyers will increase their funds to make Bangladesh factories more compliant. Meanwhile, the good news for Bangladesh is that most of the brands are continuing to place orders to its garment manufacturers. In the meantime, the garment sector in the country also started to settle down after absorbing the recent 'shocks', industry sources said. On the back of series of calls and requests from the world's leading think-tanks and trade monitors, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) and the Foundry --- a publication of the Washington-based Heritage Foundation in their respective publications called upon the relevant Western governments and stakeholders not to leave Bangladesh at a time, when the country was trying to come out of the disaster cycle. The WSJ and the Foundry came up with their advocacies as certain groups in the USA and the EU, claiming to be the protectors of workers' rights, have lately become vocal against Bangladesh, as the country lacked safety measures at workplaces. Some groups in Brussels in the name of improving working conditions at garment factories in Bangladesh are trying to limit the access of Bangladesh-made apparel products to the EU, where the country currently enjoys GSP (Generalised System of Preferences) facility for most of its products. On the other hand, the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) has asked the US government to limit GSP facility to Bangladesh, which enjoys the facility in exporting some non-traditional items to the US. Both the WSJ and the Foundry have observed that leaving Bangladeshi garment products is tantamount to pushing the country, along with its workers --- mainly women, to abject poverty. The WSJ said Washington could help Bangladesh and its workers the most by bringing down the average 15 per cent tariff that applies to almost all Bangladeshi exports to America. Of late, these tariffs have yielded Washington more than $600 million a year, most from some $5.0 billion of Bangladesh RMG exports to the US, the report said. "If Washington gave Bangladesh the duty-free and quota-free status enjoyed by more than 30 other "least developed countries," the US would at a stroke contribute more to economic security and women's empowerment than it has with years of aid shipments," wrote the WSJ. Referring to the latest disaster due to Rana Plaza collapse at Savar, the Foundry said: "These tragedies are horrific, but let's not add insult to injury by taking away jobs from Bangladesh's most vulnerable." Regarding the proposal to cut GSP facility for Bangladesh products, it said: "Any tariff increases in general would be deleterious to the Bangladeshi economy. Tariffs increase the cost of exporting, ultimately eliminating jobs." "We hope along with fulfilling their latest pledges to help Bangladesh's garment sector to achieve compliance, Western buyers will also offer us higher prices so that we can extend more facilities and wages to the workers," former president of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) and Federation of Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) Annisul Haque told the FE. In line with the thoughts of the former BGMEA chief, the WSJ also said if the West wanted to help more, it would maintain and expand trade with Bangladesh. "But some in Brussels want to dial it back, arguing that the way to improve Bangladesh's labour practices is to limit access to the European market," said the WSJ slamming those who want to punish Bangladesh for the disaster. The USA also has protectionists, who couch their arguments in terms of international worker rights and solidarity. For years, the AFL-CIO has petitioned Washington to limit Bangladesh's involvement in the so-called Generalized System of Preferences, it said. The Foundry wrote if the US stopped buying from Bangladesh it would put the very workers the US lawmakers were trying to protect and make needed regulatory improvements even less likely. This is bad policy. GSP imports from Bangladesh account for less than 1.0 per cent of all imports from the country. In addition, GSPs for Bangladesh cover mostly agricultural goods. This will hurt the country's most vulnerable area by limiting farmers' access to US markets. Rural Bangladeshis earn 57 per cent less than their urban counterparts, and $10 per month less than the soon-to-be increased minimum wage of $38 per month, said the Foundry. In a proposed regulation, the US Trade Representative, based on inputs from the AFL-CIO, is suggesting that tariffs be increased on imported goods from Bangladesh to punish the country for its poor labour practices, trade sources said. The Foundry said if the Obama administration rises the tariff or cut the GSP facilities for Bangladesh products, which still enjoy the facility, it would add insult to injury. As the West started buying RMG products from Bangladesh, some 30 years ago, per capita GDP so far has increased by three times, infant and maternal mortality has dropped by about three quarters, and poverty has fallen below 40 per cent from 70 per cent. Women comprise more than 80 per cent of the garment workers and have been especially benefited, going further in school and marrying later in life. If GSP facilities are cut or tariff for Bangladeshi products are increased in the West, all this achievement will wither away, said the newspapers.