A delegation from the Office of US Trade Representative or USTR yesterday reviewed Bangladesh’s progress in workplace safety measures in the garment sector, which is tied to the restoration of trade privileges. Michael J Delaney, assistant USTR for South and Central Asia and head of the eight-member team, held meetings with three secretaries- foreign, commerce and labour in Dhaka- to review the measures taken by the government under the Bangladesh Action Plan. Bangladesh has been lobbying with the US to reinstate the generalised system of preferences status, which was scrapped in June 2013 after the Rana Plaza building collapse, citing serious shortcomings in workplace safety and labour rights. USTR, the chief trade negotiation body of the US government, also attached 16 conditions to the Bangladesh Action Plan to be fulfilled by the country to regain the status. Bangladesh fulfilled almost all the conditions and submitted the progress reports to USTR twice, but the Obama administration did not renew the status, although the trade privilege was given to 122 other countries last month. “The USTR delegation was satisfied with the progress made by the government in strengthening workplace safety,” Mikail Shipar, labour and employment secretary, said after the meeting. The USTR team said they will give their feedback after going back to the US; they were happy with the formulation of the rules on the amended labour law, Shipar told The Daily Star. Last week, Bangladesh — just before the arrival of the US team in Dhaka — published the rules of the labour law, which was one of the major conditions for regaining the GSP. The team will assess progress made to help ensure a successful Sustainability Compact review meeting in Dhaka in November with the European Union, International Labour Organisation, and governments of the US and Bangladesh. During their visit, the delegation members will also meet government officials, employers, workers, trade union leaders, officials of International Labour Organisation and Alliance on Bangladesh Worker Safety, and Accord for Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh. They will also travel to Chittagong to visit the factories housed in Bangladesh Export Processing Zone, and meet representatives from the shrimp processing sector and other local organisations. A Bangladeshi team is also expected to visit USTR soon to review progress. Hedayetullah Al Mamoon, senior secretary to the commerce ministry, led the Bangladesh team to yesterday’s meeting. Bangladesh has fulfilled all the 16 conditions and hopes that the trade privilege will be reinstated at the review in November, the commerce ministry said in a statement. Of the major conditions, the Bangladesh government amended the labour law of 2006 in parliament in July 2013, two months after the Rana Plaza building collapse. The government also appointed 235 factory inspectors to fulfil another condition and appointed 218 new fire fighters and 51 building inspectors to fortify workplace safety. So far, three factory inspection agencies — Accord, a platform of 200 retailers and brands, mostly European; Alliance, a platform of 26 North American retailers and brands; and a government sponsored inspection agency under the tripartite national agreement — completed the inspection of 3,407 out of 3,668 garment factories. Of the inspected factories, only 34 were closed due to structural flaws. All three inspection agencies were formed after the Rana Plaza building collapse to check flaws in structural, electrical and fire safety in the apparel units. In 2012, the total value of US imports from Bangladesh under GSP was $34.7 million; top imports under GSP from Bangladesh included tobacco, sports equipment, porcelain china and plastic products. US companies had lost $2 million a day after the GSP scheme was suspended for all countries, according to American Apparel and Footwear Association. The GSP is important for the image of the country as some other countries, where the country enjoys duty benefit under the GSP, might be influenced by the US decision. In fiscal 2013-14, Bangladesh exported goods worth more than $5.58 billion to the US, with 95 percent of them being garment products, which were subject to a duty of 15.61 percent.
