A US delegation is due on 19 September which will visit Dhaka to evaluate the labour standard and workers’ protection, and will also check the safety of the readymade garment (RMG) factories.The team will mainly evaluate the 16-point work plan which was given by the US for getting back the generalised system of preferences (GSP) facility for Bangladesh in the US market. The visit of the US team is important for Bangladesh before the review meeting scheduled to be held in November this year.Foreign and commerce ministry officials told Prothom Alo that assistant US trade representative for South Asia Michael Delaney will lead the US delegation. Foreign, labour, law, and commerce department officials will be part of the team.The delegation will talk with the government officials along with the RMG owners, labour leaders and other stakeholders during their visit. The team members will also visit several RMG factories to see security and labour standards of the factories. According to the commerce and foreign ministry officials, the visit of Michael Delaney is aimed at making field-level assessment of the situation before the US takes steps towards restoration of GSP.Whether Bangladesh will get back the GSP depends on the review meeting in Washington in November.It is obvious that Delaney and his team members will provide important material in the meeting. On the other hand, a joint review meeting of Bangladesh, European Union (EU) and International Labour Organisation (ILO) is scheduled to be held in Dhaka on 20 November on sustainability compact. Both of the meetings in November are important for the major export RMG sector of Bangladesh.Commerce secretary Hedayet Al Mamun on Thursday said the meeting with the US team led by Michael Delaney will be held at the state guest house Padma on 19 September. The meeting will discuss the overall labour environment of the RMG factories. Labour and foreign secretary will be part of the Bangladesh delegation led by commerce secretary.Foreign secretary Shahidul Haque will leave for the US on 19 September. Meetings will take place with the US officials on various issued during the two-day visit.Shahidul Haque on last Saturday told Prothom Alo that he is scheduled to meet the officials of foreign, commerce and labour department of the US. They will discuss various issues along with GSP.On 27 June, 2013 US president Barack Obama announced his decision to suspend Bangladesh’s trade benefits under the GSP in view of insufficient progress made by the Bangladesh government in affording Bangladeshi workers internationally-recognised worker rights. It was said that the suspension will be effective till restoration of the improved industrial working environment and the living standards of the workers. The United States Trade Representative (USTR) issued a 16-point work plan for Bangladesh on 20 July 2013, to withdraw the GSP suspension.Commerce ministry official said, the US team during the visit will verify the accomplishment of the 16-point work plan. The US is satisfied on the initiatives taken to improve the working environment by the government after the Rana Plaza tragedy. The US is asking the government to take some more initiatives. According to the work plan, two things still did not improve. One is, issuing rules for the implementation of the labour law. The other is: starting trade union in the export processing zones (EPZ) of the country.A senior official of the ministry said, the labour act rules are in law ministry. It might get finalised before the US team’s Dhaka visit.He, however, didn’t make any comment on starting trade union in the EPZ. The ministry official said labour welfare organisation will be fruitful to protect the interests of workers.
