EU assessing rights progress for GSP

A visiting European Union (EU) delegation yesterday wanted to know the causes for delays in the implementation of a few action plans for retaining the GSP to the EU markets under the trade bloc's Everything but Arms (EBA) initiative.

Of the nine national action plans, the EU delegation was satisfied in six areas and in the remaining three wanted to know the reasons for delays in implementation of the action plan, said Md Abdur Rahim Khan, who led the Bangladesh side in the technical committee meeting in Dhaka.

Khan said Bangladesh was supposed to implement International Labour Organisation (ILO) Convention 138, which was related to age limits of workers in the industry, in December last year.

Rahim, however, said the draft of a law on the ILO Convention 138 has already been sent to the law ministry for vetting with approval from the cabinet committee and it is expected that the parliament would pass it soon.

Moreover, the government has been trying to recruit an adequate number of inspectors for the Department of Inspection of Factories and Establishments (DIFE), he said.

Khan also said an export processing zone labour law was also scheduled to be amended as it was also in the law ministry for vetting with approval from the cabinet committee.

Bangladesh has also been working to implement the law to reduce violence against children, as per the condition of the EU, he added.

Bangladesh has been striving to make progress in improvements of labour and human rights to satisfy the EU for the continuation of the zero-duty benefit to the world's largest trade bloc.

The EU delegation is visiting Bangladesh to assess the progress of Bangladesh in amending labour and human rights laws and elimination of child labour from informal sectors as the EU was going to adopt the new GSP scheme from January 2024.

Jordi Curell Gotor, director for International Affairs in the Directorate General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion, and Benedikt Bunker, policy officer, Directorate – General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion, European Commission, have been holding meetings with senior officials of the ministries of labour, commerce and foreign affairs to assess the progress of the reforms as per their supplied action plan.

Ivo Schutte, deputy head of Division, Asia and the Pacific–Regional Affairs and South Asia, European External Action Service, and Alessandro Tonoli, policy officer, Directorate – General for Trade, European Commission, are also in the EU delegation.

The delegation is also scheduled to hold meetings with Tapan Kanti Ghosh, senior secretary to the commerce ministry, tomorrow to express their opinion regarding the progress of the reforms.

The will also hold meetings with top government officials, leaders of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) and labour leaders to assess the progress in ensuring labour and human rights, Ghosh also said.

"We are also negotiating with the EU for availing the GSP Plus," he added.

In the proposed GSP Plus scheme, the EU said if the value of a particular garment item from a country eligible for duty-free export benefit under the bloc's EBA facility crosses 6 per cent of the total imported value of apparel, the zero duty facility will not be applicable for the product even if the GSP Plus status is granted.

As of 2019, the value of apparel imported from Bangladesh to the EU has already gone past the threshold and now stands at more than 9.74 per cent.

"We will talk with the EU so that they soften the condition for Bangladesh," Ghosh said.

The EU is the largest export destination for Bangladesh and more than 58 per cent of it exports is destined for the EU. 

Of the nine national action plans, the EU delegation was satisfied in six areas and in the remaining three wanted to know the reasons for delays in implementation of the action plan, said Md Abdur Rahim Khan, who led the Bangladesh side in the technical committee meeting in Dhaka.

Khan said Bangladesh was supposed to implement International Labour Organisation (ILO) Convention 138, which was related to age limits of workers in the industry, in December last year.

Rahim, however, said the draft of a law on the ILO Convention 138 has already been sent to the law ministry for vetting with approval from the cabinet committee and it is expected that the parliament would pass it soon.

Moreover, the government has been trying to recruit an adequate number of inspectors for the Department of Inspection of Factories and Establishments (DIFE), he said.

Khan also said an export processing zone labour law was also scheduled to be amended as it was also in the law ministry for vetting with approval from the cabinet committee.

Bangladesh has also been working to implement the law to reduce violence against children, as per the condition of the EU, he added.

Bangladesh has been striving to make progress in improvements of labour and human rights to satisfy the EU for the continuation of the zero-duty benefit to the world's largest trade bloc.

The EU delegation is visiting Bangladesh to assess the progress of Bangladesh in amending labour and human rights laws and elimination of child labour from informal sectors as the EU was going to adopt the new GSP scheme from January 2024.

Jordi Curell Gotor, director for International Affairs in the Directorate General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion, and Benedikt Bunker, policy officer, Directorate – General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion, European Commission, have been holding meetings with senior officials of the ministries of labour, commerce and foreign affairs to assess the progress of the reforms as per their supplied action plan.

Ivo Schutte, deputy head of Division, Asia and the Pacific–Regional Affairs and South Asia, European External Action Service, and Alessandro Tonoli, policy officer, Directorate – General for Trade, European Commission, are also in the EU delegation.

The delegation is also scheduled to hold meetings with Tapan Kanti Ghosh, senior secretary to the commerce ministry, tomorrow to express their opinion regarding the progress of the reforms.

The will also hold meetings with top government officials, leaders of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) and labour leaders to assess the progress in ensuring labour and human rights, Ghosh also said.

"We are also negotiating with the EU for availing the GSP Plus," he added.

In the proposed GSP Plus scheme, the EU said if the value of a particular garment item from a country eligible for duty-free export benefit under the bloc's EBA facility crosses 6 per cent of the total imported value of apparel, the zero duty facility will not be applicable for the product even if the GSP Plus status is granted.

As of 2019, the value of apparel imported from Bangladesh to the EU has already gone past the threshold and now stands at more than 9.74 per cent.

"We will talk with the EU so that they soften the condition for Bangladesh," Ghosh said.

The EU is the largest export destination for Bangladesh and more than 58 per cent of it exports is destined for the EU.