FACTORY SAFETY
Dev partners want 6-month action plan implemented by Nov
Development partners on Sunday requested the government to maintain international standards in the proposed Labour (amendment) Act-2013, audit act and foreign donations (voluntary activities) act, officials of the Economic Relations Division said.
At a plenary session of the Local Consultative Group held at the ERD, the development partners also appealed for inclusion of their suggestions on the proposed labour laws to ensure workers safety in factories and improve labour standards in the country, they said.
The DPs also emphasised on a proper implementation by November of the six-month action plan, agreed by the government, employers and International Labour Organisation on May 4 this year, to prevent further tragedies in the garment industry after the deadly Rana Plaza collapse.
‘Representatives from different donor countries and agencies, particularly European Union and ILO, stressed proper implementation of the action plan for avoiding by Bangladesh any unwanted decision regarding GSP benefits for its products in EU and other countries,’ a high official of the ERD told New Age after the meeting.
The representatives assured that if the government ensures international standards in the labour law and implements the action plan, it will be easy for them to convince their government for not scrapping GSP benefits, he said.
They also said that it was high time for Bangladesh to ensure labour standards and workers safety in factories as the United States had already suspended the GSP benefits, the ERD official who attended the meeting said.
The ERD officials said EU representative and German representative discussed the issue.
EU ambassador William Hanna, however, said that they would stay engaged with Bangladesh in improving labour standards so that it could preserve the preferential access to the EU market.
The ERD officials said that GSP issue was not on the agenda for the LCG plenary session, but incidentally the meeting was held at a time when the United States of America suspended GSP facility for the Bangladeshi products in its market on the ground of poor labour rights and workers safety condition.
‘So, the issue came up at the meeting,’ they said.
The ILO representative at the meeting focused on inclusion of the organisation’s suggestions on the proposed labour law in the law, they said.
Representatives of the DPs requested the government to share the content of the proposed amendments to the labour law with them so that they could be certain of inclusion of their suggestions in it.
World Bank country director Johannes Zutt stressed on ensuring international standards in the proposed audit act and foreign donations act.
The LCG is a forum composed of the ERD and representatives of Bangladesh-based lenders and development partners which meets regularly on different issues of foreign loan and grant disbursement and project implementation.
LCG co-chairs ERD secretary Abul Kalam Azad and United Nations resident coordinator Neal Walker presided over the meeting.
Abul Kalam assured the DPs that international standards would be ensured in the three laws.
The government has finalised the labour law considering the DPs’
suggestions for ensuring international standards, he said.
The government is working to finalise the audit act and the foreign donations act to bring transparency and accountability in the government expenditure and using foreign donations by the non-governmental organisations, he informed the meeting.
The meeting also discussed the progress of the revised joint cooperation strategy action plan as
well as reviewed the decisions of the last LCG plenary meeting held in February 2013.
-With New Age input
