To guarantee a reasonable minimum price for apparel and a uniform code of conduct for social audits, the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association met with a delegation of the United States Trade Representative on Monday. The association sought support and cooperation from the US government.
A news statement from the BGMEA stated that the apparel trade association also requested the US Government to include garment items in its GSP programme and to revive GSP in favour of Bangladesh.
During the meeting with the BGMEA, the USTR delegation talked about the labour action plan that the US Government provided.
At the meeting with the BGMEA leaders at the headquarters of the trade body in the capital Dhaka, the USTR team also discussed the required changes in Bangladesh Labour Act to ease the trade union registration process and to address the unfair labour practices, the meeting sources said.
The USTR delegation on Sunday handed over an 11-point ‘Bangladesh Labour Action Plan’ to Commerce Secretary Tapan Kanti Ghosh and urged the government to implement it to avail duty-free benefits and access to funds of the US International Development Finance Corporation.
The BGMEA in a press release said that the USTR delegates appreciated the progress Bangladesh made in the past few areas in the labour sector and discussed areas where further improvements were required, including amendments to the BLA.
The US delegation led by the assistant USTR for South and Central Asia Brendan Lynch also discussed bilateral trade and policies, including workers’ rights, wellbeing and market access matters.
The BGMEA side was headed by its president SM Mannan Kochi and included senior vice-president Khandoker Rafiqul Islam and vice-presidents Md Nasir Uddin and Abdullah Hil Rakib.
The president of the BGMEA provided updates during the conversation on the ready-made clothing industry’s development in terms of worker rights, workplace safety, and Bangladesh’s continuing labour legislation reforms.
He reaffirmed the Government of Bangladesh’s and the industry’s continuous commitment to advancing worker rights and welfare problems.