Trade Commissioner of the European Union (EU) Cecilia Malmström is set to skip a crucial review meeting on Sustainability Compact in November in Dhaka reportedly for government’s failure to enact rules on Bangladesh’s labour law, officials said. The law was amended last time in July 2013 amid persuasion from global buyers of Bangladeshi goods, especially readymade garments. It was done following the deadly incident of Rana Plaza collapse. Since then, the government has promised to formulate the implementation rules of the law several times, but to no avail up until now. In June this year, commercial counsellor at Bangladesh mission in Belgium Tapan Kanti Ghosh had informed Dhaka that Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmström may not attend the review meeting marking the second anniversary of Sustainability Compact unless the gazette of rules on implementation of Bangladesh Labour Law is published before July 8. “It was indicated that the trade commissioner would like to see more progress before she arrives in Dhaka as she underscored in her 22 April statement in the European Parliament. Clearly it indicates that the ministry of labour and employment must publish the implementing rules in the official gazette after its vetting by law ministry where it is possibly lying now,” Mr Ghosh informed Dhaka that time. “Unless it is done before 8 July–the second anniversary of adoption of the Sustainability Compact–ensuring the participation of Trade Commissioner would be almost impossible,” he said. Officials in Dhaka said Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed in the first week of July wrote to Ms Malmström inviting her to attend the review meeting in Dhaka. She replied to the minister in the first week of September about her inability to attend the programme due to ‘busy work schedule’. But officials said Ms Malmström is skipping the meeting as the government did not publish the gazette notification of implementation rules of the labour law. They said the European trade officials earlier gave the hint and now it is happening. Talking to the FE, labour secretary Mikail Shipar was upbeat about sending the gazette notification of the implementation rules to press for printing within a couple of days. He said the file had reached the law minister and may get clearance shortly. “Once we get the rules vetted from the ministry, we will send it quickly for printing.” Commerce secretary Hedayetullah Al Mamoon told the FE that other EU officials would attend the meeting if the trade commissioner failed to attend it for her busy schedule. He said many countries took year after year to enact labour rules while Bangladesh drafted that within two years. “I am hopeful that the gazette will be published within a week,” Mr Mamoon said. After the death of over 1,100 workers in the Rana Plaza collapse the European Commission on July 8, 2013 launched a joint initiative for improving conditions for workers in Bangladeshi garment factories.
