US Trade Representative, commerce ministry officials to discuss labour laws Sunday

Officials of the United States Trade Representative, responsible for developing and coordinating US international trade, are coming to Dhaka to discuss various issues including amending the EPZ Labour Act, introducing trade unions in the export processing zones, and revising the labour law in line with the ILO Conventions.

A 10-member delegation led by Brian Luti, the United State National Security Council director for South Asia Regional Affairs, will participate in a meeting on Sunday (21 May) at the commerce ministry. Officials of the labour and employment ministry and related organisations will also be present there, said sources. 

Senior Commerce Secretary Tapan Kanti Ghosh told The Business Standard that the United States Trade Representative delegation will discuss issues like cotton fumigation, data protection act, intellectual property rights, and protection of labour rights as they have been giving importance to these issues.

Commerce ministry officials said Bangladesh will focus on three issues in the meeting. One of the country's agendas is to seek duty-free facility in the United States market in case of exporting garments made with cotton imported from that country.

The commerce ministry will also propose to reinstate the GSP facility for Bangladesh, which has been suspended since the Rana Plaza collapse in 2013.  

Apart from that, Bangladesh will also present its stand on the United States Trade Representative's allegation that different companies in the country have been making fake branded clothes, and seek more time to solve the problem.

The European Union has also been putting pressure on Bangladesh to implement a nine-point action plan with the conditions of revising the EPZ Labour Law, introducing trade unions in the export processing zones, and revising the labour law in line with the International Labour Organisation (ILO) Conventions.

The labour ministry has already submitted a roadmap to the European Union for the implementation of the action plan by 2026. However, Dhaka is lagging behind in implementation of the roadmap.

Three months after the Rana Plaza collapsed in 2013, the US suspended the GSP facilities for Bangladesh and imposed a condition of implementing the action plan. Later, the commerce ministry said the action plan had been implemented, and demanded the reinstatement of GSP several times. However, every time the US said there are many more scopes for improving the protection of labour rights in the country.

In such a context, former commerce minister Tofail Ahmed said the country had decided not to request the United States to reinstate the GSP facility. At that time, he said the United States suspended GSP benefits for political reasons and would not reinstate them even if Bangladesh works until the end of time to protect workers' rights.

After Tipu Munshi took over as the minister of commerce, Bangladesh has been demanding the reinstatement of GSP facilities again in bilateral discussions including the Trade and Investment Cooperation Forum Agreement (Ticfa) meetings.

Commerce ministry officials said the US was demanding the cancellation of the double fumigation system for importing cotton for many years. The government has already cancelled this practice, and after that the commerce ministry has been demanding duty-free facilities for the export products made with the cotton imported from the United States.

The United States has also been urging Bangladesh to enact a data protection law. The ICT Division has already drafted the law. The United States Trade Representative delegation will discuss whether the draft addresses the United States' concerns.

Besides, the US delegation will also discuss intellectual property rights, and patent protection. The country has accused Bangladesh of copying various US products including software.