EU calls on Bangladesh government to show progress on labor rights

Bangladesh must improve labor rights to avoid temporarily losing the generalized system of preferences (GSP) benefit, the European Union said in a letter to Bangladesh government.

Generalized system of preferences (GSP) benefit allows Bangladesh duty-free export to the 28-nation economic bloc.

The letter was sent to Bangladesh government on May 31, just after the third review of meeting of sustainability compact that was held in Dhaka on May 31.

The letter was sent to the secretaries of foreign, commerce and labour ministries, venting dissatisfaction as Bangladesh did not reply to its previous letter of March 16, English language daily the Daily Star reported.

“This will be essential for Bangladesh to remain eligible for the Everything But Arms regime,” the newspaper quoted the EU letter as saying.

Meanwhile, Dhaka did not present any time-bound action plan in the compact meeting in order to address the International Labour Organisation (ILO) recommendations on labour rights, as was requested in the letter.

“With regards to the preferences granted to Bangladesh under the EU’s GSP regulation, we would like to recall that Bangladesh needs to demonstrate, as a matter of urgency, that concrete and lasting measures are taken to ensure respect of fundamental human and labour rights,” the EU letter reads.

“Without such progress, the EU will need to monitor the situation more closely in the context of the GSP regulation, including through a dedicated mission to Bangladesh. Such monitoring could eventually lead to the launching of a formal investigation, which could result in temporary withdrawal of preferences.”

The Daily Star report said the EU letter was signed by Sandra Gallina, director of the Directorate General of Trade of the European Commission, Jordi Curell, director of Labour Mobility at the Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion of the European Commission, and Lotte Knudsen, managing director of Human Rights, Global and Multilateral Issues at the European External Action Service.

“We take this opportunity to recall the EU position: it is essential that the government of Bangladesh comes forward with a strategy with concrete and time-bound actions for each of the ILO recommendations ahead of the 106th session of the ILC,” it said.