Union delegation would visit Bangladesh in October this year to review the labour rights situation in the country and the Bangladesh’s eligibility to continue enjoying generalised system of preference (GSP) benefits in the EU under the Everything but Arms regime. According to senior government officials, the EU trade delegation during its visit in October 14-16 would discuss the latest labour law reforms and oversee the progress of labour rights situation in line with the International Labour Organisation conventions. Apart from the ILO conventions, the EU team would also evaluate the economic, social and cultural rights situation in line with the international covenant, said officials of commerce and labour ministries. One of the objectives of the mission is to discuss the latest labour law reforms in Bangladesh and collect the necessary information to be able to report on developments and progress made on the remaining issues in the forthcoming biennial GSP report for the European Parliament and the EU member states represented in the Council, European Commission’s trade director Ewa Synowiec said in a letter to Bangladesh commerce and labour secretaries on July 21. The report will cover years 2018 and 2019 and the EC is under legal obligation to publish it by January 1, 2020, the letter said. It also said that the volume of GSP exports from Bangladesh and other countries was increasing and the enhanced engagement with EBA beneficiary countries would be under tightened scrutiny this year. The EC trade director requested the commerce and labour secretaries to submit to the commission a report on progress the country made regarding some issues in terms of compliance with the core United Nations’ and ILO’s conventions on human rights and labour rights, which were raised at the EBA mission in 2018 and 2019. The EC wanted to know the development on full alignment of the labour law, whether it was applicable to the export processing zones and labour rules complied with the ILO conventions 87 and 98 related to right to organise and collective bargaining. It also wanted to know about the developments on protection against acts of anti-union discrimination, transparent process of the registration of trade union, and elimination of child labour. Requesting a written response from the government of Bangladesh by September 1, the EC said that this submission should also serve a basis for a meeting with the commerce and labour ministries during the visit in October. The EU delegation to Bangladesh on July 29 in a letter to commerce and labour secretaries informed about the mission’s visit. ‘The purpose of this letter is to announce the intention to undertake the mission to Bangladesh by EU services for a follow-up EBA meeting in October 14-16 this year, in the week preceding the EU-Bangladesh Joint Commission,’ the EU delegation to Bangladesh said in the letter. It also said that the EU-Bangladesh Joint Commission would be held on October 21. ‘We have already prepared our responses to the queries raised by the EC and those would be sent to the EC on September 1,’ labour secretary KM Ali Azam told New Age on Tuesday.
