Washington: US is willing to work with Bangladesh to restore the suspended Generalised System of Preference (GSP) benefits if it improves workers’ rights and conditions, a top American trade official has said.
“Our goal, of course, is not only to see Bangladesh restore its edibility for GSP benefits, but to see Bangladeshi workers in safe, appropriate work situations,” the US Trade Representative (USTR), Mike Froman, told reporters during a conference call after President Barack Obama suspended GSP benefits for Bangladesh through a proclamation.
GSP is a 37-year-old trade preference program under which the United States provides duty-free treatment to many imports from developing countries.
The suspension will become effective 60 days after the publication of the presidential proclamation in the Federal Register.
Froman said passage of the labour law would be an important step for Bangladesh to restore its GSP benefits. “We’re also discussing a number of other actions with them that they can take that would enhance workers’ rights and worker safety. And we’ll be working with them to encourage them to take those actions, as well as providing support and assistance for them as they need, for technical assistance, to do so as well,” he said.
“We are in continued dialogue with the government of Bangladesh and would like to see them take the necessary actions both to protect their workers and also ultimately to be reinstated in the GSP programs,” Froman said, adding that there is no timetable to restore benefits.
“While GSP covers only a small portion of the US imports from Bangladesh, we think that the issue of GSP ultimately has greater impact than the numbers themselves suggest, given the public attention that the GSP has received in Bangladesh and the importance Bangladesh attributes to it,” he said.
“The focus is on the actions that need to be taken. And once the significant actions have been taken that we think are feasible for them to take, we are certainly willing to review the issue of reinstatement,” the US trade official said.
Froman said Obama took such a decision, based on United States Trade Representative’s (USTR) recommendation, as Bangladesh has failed to take steps to improve worker rights as required by the statute.
“Even prior to the Tazreen Plaza and Rana Plaza tragedies, USTR had determined that it was time to look very hard at Bangladesh’s benefits, based on the lack of progress made. Those tragedies which troubled the world caused everyone to grieve, but also underscore the problems that we’ve seen in Bangladesh for some time,” Froman said.
Meanwhile, The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL–CIO) president Richard Trumka welcomed the decision of the US government to suspend Bangladesh’s trade benefits granted under GSP.
“Bangladesh’s egregious labor practices have been under review for more than six years now, and the Bangladesh Government has repeatedly failed to comply with the minimum GSP requirements to afford internationally recognized labor rights to its workers,” he said.
“The decision to suspend trade benefits sends an important message to our trading partners: Countries that benefit from preferential trade programs must comply with their terms. Countries that tolerate dangerous – and even deadly — working conditions and deny basic workers’ rights, especially the right to freedom of association, will risk losing preferential access to the US market,” Trumka said.
Since 2005, over 1800 workers have died in preventable factory fires and building collapses in the Bangladesh garment industry, including the most recent collapse of the Rana factory, he said.
“The suspension of GSP benefits, together with the binding commitment made by over 50 brands to improve fire and building safety in factories, are important steps to improving dangerous working conditions,” Trumka said.
In 2012, the total value of imports that entered the United States duty-free under GSP was USD 19.9 billion, including USD 34.7 million from Bangladesh. US will continue to accept imports from Bangladesh following this decision; however, none will be eligible for duty-free treatment under GSP while Bangladesh’s benefits remain suspended, the USTR said. (PTI)