Indications are strong that the United Kingdom (UK) may tag labour issues with trade preferences to Bangladesh after completion of Brexit process. Officials said the hint came at a recent meeting between officials of the British Department for International Trade and the High Commission of Bangladesh in London. At the meeting, there was an emphasis on the improvement in labour standards, particularly in the RMG sector. A British trade official also indicated that future preferential scheme may be linked with labour standards, a recent letter from the commercial counsellor of the high commission to the ministry of commerce (MoC) said while referring to the meeting with Max Petrokofsky of the Department for International Trade. Mr Petrokofsky, who looks after preference issue and South Asia trade relations, attended the meeting along with his colleagues Paul Walters of the Department for International Development, and Tom Matlock of the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office. The HC officials at the meeting informed the British side that Accord on fire and building safety in Bangladesh, the Alliance, the International Labour Organisation (ILO), and the government have been working together on labour issues for the last few years and there had been remarkable progress in recent times. They argued that if the labour issue is tied to preference scheme, it might undermine the spirit of the benefit. Most of the African least developed countries (LDCs) will fail to comply with the requirements since they stand far behind in ensuring labour compliance. The delegation agreed with Dhaka’s views and assured of working together in “ensuring maximum trade benefit” for Bangladesh. Presently, Bangladeshi goods enjoy duty-and quota-free market access to the UK under European Union’s (EU’s) Everything but Arms (EBA) scheme on preferential treatment to trade. On June 23 last year, nationals of Great Britain voted in a referendum for breaking away from the decades-old continental bloc, EU. At this point countries enjoying trade benefit in the UK under EU’s EBA scheme were afraid of losing the facility. Since the deadliest Rana Plaza incident, buyers of apparel products have been pushing for ensuring workplace safety and labour rights in Bangladeshi factories. The United States (US) has suspended generalised system of preferences (GSP) facility for Bangladeshi goods on its market while the European Union (EU) several times threatened similar action unless labour standards are ensured. Both the US and the EU have forwarded action plans to Bangladesh centring workplace safety and labour rights for implementation. The government has claimed that most of the action plans are being implemented. The Accord, the Alliance, the ILO and the government are working jointly on remediation works in garment-factory buildings. Talking to the FE a senior MoC official said the UK is one of the major export destinations by virtue of duty-and quota-free market access over there. In fiscal year 2015-16 Bangladesh exported goods worth US$3.2 billion to the UK, which accounted for 11.2 per cent of country’s total export. He said if the UK tagged labour standard to the trade preference after completion of Brexit, Bangladesh’s export to Britain may face some hurdles. As such, the Bangladeshi diplomats in the UK have been asked to keep close contact with British trade officials to ensure trade preference continues after Brexit and if any further facilities can be availed. Contacted over phone Friday, president of the Exporters Association of Bangladesh (EAB) Abdus Salam Murshedy told the FE as the price of British pound sterling fell significantly after the result of Brexit referendum, the exporters are counting major loss. “It is true that in bilateral trade negotiations Britain may impose various conditions against granting preferences. But, we will expect that the country will continue with the similar preferences it has been offering us under EU’s EBA scheme,” he said. Mr Murshedy said Bangladesh met most of the conditions given by the US and the EU after the Rana Plaza incident. “Hopefully, with the ongoing remediation works and establishing compliant factories we will be able to meet any new conditions in the future.”
