A high-powered team from the United States Trade Representative, the chief trade negotiation body of the American government, will visit Bangladesh soon to monitor workplace safety progress, especially in the garment sector, in an effort to restore GSP status to the country, Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed said yesterday.
The team will visit some garment factories, talk to exporters and government high-ups, and review the status of safety initiatives taken by the government and private sector entrepreneurs in the garment sector under the Bangladesh Action Plan.
The GSP scheme did not include apparel items, but the conditions set to regain it include improvements in the sector’s workplace conditions.
Similarly, a high-powered delegation of three secretaries from Bangladesh will visit the USTR with the same agenda soon, Ahmed said after a meeting with James F Moriarty, executive director of the Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety, in Dhaka.
The minister did not specify the dates of these delegations’ travels.
The Alliance, a platform of 26 North American retailers and brands formed after the Rana Plaza building collapse in April 2013, has already inspected 661 factories to check fire, electrical and structural safety.
The minister also said there is no barrier to Bangladesh’s regaining GSP to the US market, as the country has already fulfilled almost all the conditions. Currently, no countries receive GSP for apparel items in the US.
“The US is the single largest export destination for Bangladeshi garment items. Our export to the US market is still high even after suspension of the status. But the country’s image to western customers was somewhat tarnished due to suspension of the trade privilege,” the minister said.
A few days ago ten diplomats of different countries including the US envoy in Bangladesh visited some garment factories to observe progress in safety and worker rights. “They have praised the safety progress and improved working environment at the factories,” Ahmed said.
Regarding the formation of trade unions in the factories housed inside the Export Processing Zones (EPZs), the minister said Workers’ Welfare Associations already exist in those factories.
“The workers in the EPZ factories do not have any complaints on trade unions. So it’s not necessary to form separate trade unions in the EPZ factories,” he said.
Allowing trade unions in the EPZ factories was one of the 16 conditions in action plan to regain GSP status.
After scrapping the GSP (generalised system of preferences) in 2013, the United States asked Bangladesh to execute the action plan to qualify for the trade benefits.
Moriarty said Bangladesh’s economy has been growing fast, and there has been a lot of progress in improvement of working conditions in the factories and worker rights.
Bangladesh’s garment markets have been expanding further and the US will continue its support for the country, he said.
