The issue of GSP restoration for Bangladesh in the US market is set to come under a thorough review by the US authorities at a meeting being planned for next month in Washington DC, commerce ministry sources said. The ministry of commerce that coordinates the entire issues in relation to GSP restoration and implementation of the US GSP Action Plan is getting ready ahead of the crucial meeting to regain the lost trade facility. ‘We are getting ready for the review meeting… on our part we have implemented almost everything suggested in the US action plan for restoration of the GSP facility,’ Hedayetullah Al Mamoon, secretary, ministry of commerce, told New Age on Friday. But many observers believe that Bangladesh delegation is likely to be grilled for the failure to finalise labour rules based on the labour act 2013 and lack of sufficient freedom of association and labour rights for EPZ workers. The government failed to prepare the labour rules nearly two years after the labour act was passed, due mainly to strong opposition from businesses and different associations representing employers including Bangladesh garment manufacturers and exporters association, sources said. The rules now await the clearance of the law ministry for the last three months after it had been lying pending with the labour ministry for more than a year, they said. The US authorities have for long pushed the government for introducing equal labour rights for EPZ workers similar to those enjoyed by workers employed outside the EPZ factories in the country. Commerce minister Tofail Ahmed time and again declined to grant freedom of association and other rights to EPZ workers, citing the concerns of foreign investors. Officials at the commerce ministry said the upcoming meeting between the USTR officials and Bangladesh delegation will also highlight the actions of the government in the aftermath of Rana Plaza building collapse to shield the interest of the victim workers. The Bangladesh delegation will include officials from foreign and labour ministries to be headed by commerce secretary Hedayetullah Al Mamoon. Dhaka has already sent the implementation status of the US Action Plan to USTR office. ‘Formulating labour rules involves huge time, since the rules are not only for RMG sector, but for 264 industrial sectors,’ the commerce secretary said. ‘We need one more month to formulate the labour rules.’ In last May, Bangladesh was kept outside a GSP renewal move by the US senate to restore the trade privilege for about 125 developing nations. Since then, Dhaka has kept pursuing the US administration to consider the case for Bangladesh.
