FM briefs Crawley on factory safety

Foreign Minister Dipu Moni has briefed US Congressman Joseph Crawley in Washington about her government’s latest initiatives to improve working conditions at garment factories in Bangladesh’s efforts to retain GSP facility.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a media statement said she conveyed the government’s ‘commitment’ to improve factory conditions and informed Crawley of the amending process of labour law in a meeting on Wednesday.

It said Crawley, also a co-chair of Bangladesh Caucus in the US Congress, thanked Moni for ‘the helpful update’ and assured her of sharing the information with his colleagues in the US Congress.

Bangladesh Ambassador to the USA Akramul Qader, the Prime Minister’s son Sajeeb Ahmed Wazed, and member of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Foreign Ministry Saifuzzaman Chowdhury were also present at the meeting.

Bangladesh has been trying to retain its duty-free market access facility to the US market after the influential American Federation of Labour-Congress of Industrial Organizations’ (AFL-CIO) petitioned the US government in 2007 to revoke the facility.

Though Bangladesh enjoyed the GSP facility for exporting products worth about $26.3 million in 2011, losing the facility would send ‘negative message’ across the globe, analysts say.

Bangladesh was awaiting a decision by the first week of June as the final hearing concluded in March. But last month’s Savar building collapse that killed more than 1,100 people, mostly garment workers, rekindled the workplace safety issue.

The Foreign Minister said they had engaged all stakeholders to make ‘a safer work environment’ and added the amended labour law was expected to be passed in the parliamentary session beginning in June.

The minister also briefed Crawley about a survey underway to find factories housed in shoddy buildings.

“Within a year or so, Bangladesh’s trading partners would see a positive change in its factories and find those compliant with the required standards,” she said.

She, however, reminded the role of clothing brands and said ‘an ethical pricing and responsible role’ of the buyers were ‘extremely critical’ for ensuring fire safety and labour welfare.

Moni earlier met with the representatives of the American Apparel and Footwear Association led by its president and CEO Kevin M Burke.

The CEO informed her that the international buyers had been ‘closely monitoring’ Bangladesh government’s recent responses to address the factory safety issue.

The Foreign Minister will meet the US Secretary of State John Kerry on May 17 where the GSP issue is expected to be discussed among other bilateral issues.