Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed on Monday said the government will reply within two weeks through the envoys of the two countries to the review report of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) published in its website recently.
He came up with the information while talking to reporters after a meeting with US Ambassador Dan W Mozena at the Secretariat.
On July 3, the USTR in their review report said Bangladesh has not yet implemented substantial parts of the Action Plan given by the US administration to retain GSP benefit in the US market.
An interagency review led by the Office of the USTR has concluded that Bangladesh has made some important progress, but must do more to address the worker rights and worker safety issues that led US President Barack Obama to suspend the country’s Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) trade benefits in June 2013. The review concluded that the government needs to develop a credible and effective mechanism for responding to and addressing allegations of unfair labor practices. Tofail said, the government will invite USTR representatives and six US Congressmen to visit garment factories in Bangladesh to see for themselves the overall situation.
Responding to a query about the outcome of the meeting with the US envoy, he said Mozena praised the Bangladesh government for its action taken after the Rana Plaza collapse and Tazreen Fashions fire incidents.
He also said they discussed other bilateral issues at the meeting. Revealing that International Labour Organization (ILO), ‘Accord’ and ‘Alliance’ had conducted inspection in at least 1,500 garment factories in Bangladesh, the minister said only 19 were found vulnerable during the inspection while production at some other factories were suspended due to risky condition. The garment inspection will end by December, he said.
Saying currently there is no GSP facility to any country provided by the US, Tofail expressed his optimism that Bangladesh will not face any difficulties to get back the GSP in the US market. Replying to another query about Mozena’s remarks on fire safety measures, he said the Bangladesh government has provided in the national budget for 2014-15 duty-free import of safety equipment.
