Commerce Ministry’s Senior Secretary Tapan Kanti Ghosh on Monday said that no such situation has been created to impose trade related restrictions centring the labour rights issue in Bangladesh.
"There has been enough progress on labour rights through amendment of the Labour Act and the Bangladesh Export Processing Zones Authority (BEPZA) Act. The US will be updated soon about such scenario of progress," he said.
“We have ratified the International Labor Organization (ILO) conventions, ensuring that our labour laws adhere to certain standards. We have complied with their request to lower the unionisation threshold — from 20 per cent to 15 per cent of the total workforce in a factory,” he added.
The commerce secretary said this after chairing a special inter-ministerial meeting to review the progress on the implementation of the national work-plan on labour issues held at the Ministry of Commerce at the Secretariat.
Tapan said that as per their fresh labour policy, the US wants to see concerned labour environment is improved in all countries across the world, it is not targeting a single country like Bangladesh.
Mentioning that the emphasis given by the US government to improve the labour standard in not new, the senior commerce secretary said, "It's an ongoing process, issuing a memorandum doesn't mean that it’s new. We're always in the reforms process and we're trying to fulfil our goal following their suggestions," he added.
He also asserted that whatever necessary would be done taking alongside the concerned stakeholders at all level in order to ensure that the export market is not affected.
Tapan also said that Bangladesh has been exporting RMG items across the globe through maintaining international demand and complying with the labour rights as envisioned in the Labour Act.
Labour Secretary Md Ehsan-e-Elahi, FBCCI President Md Mahbubul Alam, BGMEA President Faruque Hassan, BKMEA Executive President Mohammed Hatem, concerned officials of the Ministry of Commerce and other agencies were present, among others, on the occasion.
Referring to the review report of the European Union, Tapan said the fresh wage structure in the RMG sector has already been announced which will be made effective from January next year.
"Besides, the government is also working to ensure what can be done to ensure workers' welfare. There were some conditions from some countries including the EU and the US. Most of the demands from the US on Labour Act and BEPZA Act have been fulfilled. The Labour Act has been amended thrice over the last few years," he added.
The meeting also discussed about the labour standard, progress in implementation of the Labour Act, labour rights and justified wage situation.
