Vetting to amended labour law soon to get back GSP

The amended labour law has been sent to the law ministry for its vetting, which is expected to be done in a week or two, Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed told journalists on Tuesday.
"With the vetting to the amended labour law, there will no issue unresolved to get back the GSP (Generalised System of Preferences) status in the US market", the minister said after a meeting with envoys of some major western countries.
US envoy Marcia Stephens Bloom Bernicat, Canadian High Commissioner BenoOt-Pierre Laram,e, Danish ambassador Hanne Fugl Eskj'r, Charge d'Affaires of the Netherland embassy Martine van Hoogstraten and head of Department for International Development (DFID) Sarah Cooke attended the meeting, held at the commerce minister's office, a BSS report said.
Following the meeting, Ahmed said the US ambassador admitted at the meeting that the government so far made significant progress in fulfilling the 16 conditions set out by the US authorities to regain the GSP status.
The minister said that the US envoy, however, suggested addressing further the issues related to implementation of the amended labour law, improving workers safety and security and the working conditions.
"She also assured of working together with the government to help regain the GSP," Ahmed said.
Earlier in July, the government has reiterated its call for restoring GSP for Bangladeshi apparel industries and some other products in US market, saying that the country already made significant progress to improve factory safety and labour rights, especially in the apparel sector.
During a meeting with US Senator Christopher S Murphy at the Capitol Hill, Bangladesh ambassador to the United States Mohammad Ziauddin raised the GSP issue.
The US revoked the GSP on some Bangladesh products in June 2013 after the Rana Plaza collapse. Later it announced a "Bangladesh Action Plan 2013" as a precondition for reinstatement of GSP facilities.
An influential US congresswoman Carolyn B Maloney early this month also extended her support to Bangladesh's persistent plea to get duty and quota free access to the American market, saying there have been good reasons to consider the demand.
Despite the development, the United States Trade Representative (USTR) left out Bangladesh from the list of 122 nations for whom US President Barack Obama on July 29 re-authorised the GSP.
-SS