The government has failed to meet some major commitments made to the EU Sustainability Compact for improving labour rights and factory safety in the readymade garment industry in Bangladesh in last one year. Bangladesh might face question at a review meeting scheduled to be held on October 20 in Brussels on the progress made in line with the Sustainability Compact conditions as the country has missed several deadlines to complete recruitment of additional 200 factory inspectors and to formulate rules under the Labour Act, said people involved with the process.
After missing at least three deadlines the government on September 11 set fresh deadlines for implementing the remaining conditions of the EU Sustainability Compact.
At a meeting with foreign diplomats on September 11, senior officials of the Bangladesh government had promised to complete recruitment of additional 200 factory inspectors by mid October and formulation of rules under the Labour Act by the month.
A commerce ministry official told New Age that senior officials of commerce, labour and foreign ministries on Sunday held talks to prepare the position paper in line with the conditions of Compact and the government may seek time once again to meet some conditions like formulation of rules under the Labour Act and revision of EPZ Labour Act.
Led by commerce minister Tofail Ahmed a 10-member delegation that includes commerce secretary Hedayetullah Al Mamoon, labour secretary Mikail Shipar, foreign secretary Shahidul Haque, Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association president Md Atiqul Islam, former Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association president Fazlul Haque, representatives from Bangladesh Employers Federation, trade unions and Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology will attend the Compact review meeting in Brussels.
‘We have met successfully a number of conditions given by the Sustainability Compact but some of the conditions remain unfulfilled but not untouched. We are hopeful that the conditions that remain to be done will be fulfilled within a very short time,’ labour secretary Mikail Shipar told New Age.
He said that due to some procedural complexities it was very difficult to complete the recruitment of additional 200 labour inspectors by December 2013 deadline given by Compact.
All barriers have been removed and already 88 inspectors have been appointed through the Public Service Commission and the PSC assured that the recruitment process of at least 150 more inspectors would be finalised by October 20, Shipar said.
‘If the PSC makes announcement the list of 150 inspectors by October 20 we will inform Compact that the recruitment of additional inspectors has been done and if not we will pledge to complete the process by the month,’ he said.
According to the labour secretary, formulation of rules under the Labour Act is now at the final stage and the National Tripartite Committee is likely to approve the draft on October 16.
After the approval by the NTC, it will take one to two months for finalisation of the draft, he said.
The commerce, labour and foreign secretaries on Sunday informed the commerce minister about the progresses made on the Compact conditions.
They informed Tofail Ahmed that the factory inspection programme was progressing and a total of 2,061 factories had so far been inspected by three initiatives — Accord on Fire and Building Safety, Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety and BUET, a commerce ministry official said.
The secretaries informed that a total of 236 trade unions had been registered in the RMG sector since January 2013 to till date.
After the Rana Plaza building collapse on April 14 last year that killed at least 1,137 garment workers, the EU and Bangladesh government signed Compact on July 8 last year and later the US joined the initiative.
The EU is the major export destination for Bangladesh and the country exports 60 per cent of its annual export of $30 billion to the destination.
In Compact, Bangladesh made commitments of reforming the labour law to strengthen workers’ rights, in particular freedom of association and of recruiting additional 200 inspectors by the end of 2013.
Bangladesh also pledged to improve building and fire safety in the RMG factories by June 2014.
Earlier, the European Union in its one year progress report said that Bangladesh made much progress since signing the Sustainability Compact a year ago, but further work was urgently required to ensure safety and health at place of work as well as freedom of association in line with commitments.
The EU unveiled the progress report titled ‘Staying Engaged: Bangladesh Sustainability Compact — One Year On’ reviewing progress by this time and urged the government for completing other commitments on July 9.
In the report the EU had expressed concern over the refusal to register trade unions, attempts to limit their freedom of expression and the lack of measures to address intimidation and violence against workers in Bangladesh.
-With New Age input
