It is disappointing that the updated list of states qualifying for the United States’ duty-free GSP program still excludes Bangladesh, which was suspended in 2013 over concern about workers’ rights issues Although RMG exports do not come under this arrangement, re-instating Bangladesh is important as a vote of confidence in the work done to advance labour rights since the Rana Plaza disaster. This progress and the work done by the government and the brand-led Alliance and Accord stake-holder initiatives on improving factory safety, deserves to be acknowledged. It is unjust to single Bangladesh out for exclusion, when concerns about labour rights are international, and the new list contains 122 different countries including all other members of SAARC. The government should renew efforts to persuade the US to allow Bangladesh GSP privileges. At a time when other countries are benefiting from new trade deals, it is vital to ensure that our exporters are not left behind. In the same vein, we would urge the US government to review the high rate of tariff duties paid on Bangladeshi RMG exports to the US. Bangladesh pays the second-highest rate of tariff duty (15.6%) for exports to the US market. This amounts to over $828m a year, and is almost twice the rate of other developing countries such as Vietnam, and roughly five times that of China and India. The US should adopt the elegant proposal made last year by the chief economist of the Bangladesh Bank for a Tariffs for Standards fund. A portion, say a quarter of the $800m plus that Bangladesh pays the US to export garments, could be invested by the US in a fund administered by a third party such as the World Bank, to finance factory upgrades and improvements in working standards in Bangladesh. This type of a multilateral arrangement would make it much easier for the RMG industry to make the substantial long-term investments it needs to build modern factories and improve working conditions, while directly addressing the concerns of US consumers about workers’ rights.
