US to conduct survey on child labour situation in RMG

Syful IslamThe US labour department has employed an international organisation to carry out a survey on the presence of child labour in the apparel sector of Bangladesh, officials said Monday. However, a Ministry of Commerce (MoC) official denied the presence of child labour in Bangladesh's apparel industry. Sources said the Bureau of International Labour Affairs of US Department of Labour has recently appointed an international survey institution, ICF Marco, to carry out a survey on the Bangladesh's apparel industry to determine the presence of child and forced labourers working there. The ICF Marco has engaged the RTM Interna­tional, a Bangladeshi organisation, to carry out the survey. The RTM International will survey whether any child worker or forced labourer exists in any stages of Bangladesh's apparel production. The MoC recently sought opinion from the stakeholders whether to allow the RTM International to carry out the survey or not. "Bangladesh doesn't allow employment of any child or forced labourer in the apparel industry. The workers here are adult," a senior MoC official told the FE. Following insistence on the part of the US and other European importers, Bangladesh eliminated child labour from the apparel sector several years back. Bangladesh and the US are in talks over signing of Trade and Economic Cooperation Forum (TECF) pact, aiming to boost trade between the two countries and the labour standard remains an important issue in the negotiations. Washington has recently conveyed its position that the US may not sign the deal if Bangladesh sticks to the demand for exclusion of labour rights issue from the draft of the agreement. Some four million workers are employed in Bangladesh's around 5,000 apparel factories, nearly 80 per cent of them are women. The apparel industry is the country's major foreign currency earner. Talking to the FE, President of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) Shafiul Islam (Mohiuddin) said there is no child or forced labour in his sector. "The government survey as well as the monitoring of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) couldn't find the presence of any child labour in the apparel sector," he claimed. BGMEA Vice-President Siddiqur Rahman said his organisation regularly monitors the labour situation in the apparel industry. "Our monitoring team couldn't find any child or forced labour in the sector," he said. Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA) President Salim Osman told the FE that Bangladesh apparel industry is totally free from child and forced labour. "If our monitoring team finds any child labour in any factory, we fine the factory $ 1,000 for the offence. Child labour is not allowed in our association's policy," he said. Mr Osman, however, said some factories which are not members of BGMEA or BKMEA run their establishments according to their own will. "They may have employed some child labourers which should be stopped." Out of 3,500 member factories of BKMEA, some 1,500 are now in operation where 1.8 million workers are employed. Rest of the factories are now closed facing the adverse situation arisen out of the ongoing European Union's relaxed rules of origin.