Draft law on EPZ to be reviewed

The government has withdrawn the draft of the Export Processing Zone law from parliament for a review by the prime minister, said a top official of the labour and employment ministry yesterday.

The move was prompted by the European Union's threat to suspend Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) for Bangladeshi products if the labour law is not amended by mid June this year.

After the cabinet approved the draft law in February last year, it was sent to parliament. But then it was withdrawn on Thursday, said Mikail Shipar, secretary to the labour and employment ministry.

He, however, did not elaborate any further on the issue as he spoke at a discussion linked with the garments sector in the capital. The Centre for Policy Dialogue and International Labour Organization jointly organised the event on the eve of the fourth anniversary of the Rana Plaza building collapse.

The EU wants amendments to the labour law for EPZs as per ILO suggestions adopted at the International Labour Conference (ILC) in Geneva last year.

The legal framework should be changed to ensure workers' full freedom of association, freedom of association by EPZ workers, investigation into anti-union discrimination and simplification of union registration, according to the suggestions.

The EU also asked the government to show progress in amending the labour law, which would be applicable to the EPZs, in the third round of Sustainability Compact meeting in Dhaka on May 18.

Following the Rana Plaza building collapse, Bangladesh signed the ILO-brokered Sustainability Compact with the EU in September 2013. Later, the US and Canada joined Sustainability Compact.

The EU also suggested that Bangladesh should demonstrate its progresses in amending the law in the next ILC to be held in June this year.

As a member of the league of least developed countries (LDCs), Bangladesh is enjoying zero-duty benefit on exports to the EU since 1971 under its Everything But Arms (EBA) scheme.

According to Export Promotion Bureau, Bangladesh exported goods worth $18.68 billion to the EU in the last fiscal year, which was 54.57 percent of the country's total exports.

Of the amount, apparel accounted for $17.15 billion. The EU currently receives just over 62 percent of all Bangladeshi garment exports.