European Union trade commissioner Karel De Gucht has called for ‘immediate’ action by the Bangladesh government to improve health and safety conditions in the nation’s garment industry after a factory collapse last month killed more than 500 people, reports Bloomberg.
The government of Bangladesh must ‘change something,’ De Gucht said on RTBF radio on Sunday.‘Otherwise I am ready to launch an investigation, which may lead to the suspension’ of Bangladesh’s trade status with the EU, he said.
‘If the result of this is that the price of T-shirts and jeans increases a bit, well that’s the way it is,’ De Gucht said.
‘These people have the right to work in acceptable conditions, and we have a duty to push for that.’
De Gucht said he intends to discuss with EU and US buyers of Bangladesh products the development of a ‘code of conduct’ for their supply chains.
Workers in Bangladesh face ‘totally unacceptable health and safety conditions: this is modern slavery,’ De Gucht said.
Earlier on Tuesday, the EU had warned that it would take trade action against Bangladesh through its generalised system of preferences that the country gets on the EU market if the country failed to ensure workers’ safety in factories.
‘As Bangladesh’s largest trade partner, the European Union is very concerned about the labour conditions, including health and safety provisions, established for workers in factories across the country,’ the 27-nation bloc said in a statement issued by EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton and Karel de Gucht.
The EU is Bangladesh’s top trading partner, accounting for around 60 per cent of the country’s exports and if it were outside the GSP, it would face normal import duties, which are 12 per cent for many clothing items ranging from men’s jackets to women’s blouses.
-With New Age input
