Ticfa meeting on Apr 7- 8

The first council meeting of Ticfa will be held on April 7- 8 in Dhaka. The date has been confirmed during a joint meeting involving foreign secretary Md Shahidul Haque and the officials of the United States Trade Representative (USTR), Department of Labour and the Bureau of International Labour Affairs in Washington on Tuesday. Earlier Bangladesh’s Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed had said the meeting would be held in April, but he did not specify dates. Bangladesh entered into the Trade and Investment Co-operation Forum Agreement (Ticfa) with the US in November last year, floating a forum for bilateral talks on labour and trade issues. The meeting is scheduled at the end of the deadline for fulfilling an US action plan on labour rights and security, failing which Bangladesh’s GSP facility in the US market will not be restored. According to the foreign ministry, the foreign secretary briefed the US officials on the progress Bangladesh has so far made on workers rights and safety in the textile sector, according to bdnews24.com.