More needs to be done for labour, human rights: EU tells Bangladesh

• EU officials welcome progress made on safety standards in RMG sector
• They stressed the need to fully implement the National Action Plan (NAP) on Labour Sector
• The EU will continue the enhanced monitoring process of EBA compliance
• The EU team urged the authorities to accelerate the necessary reforms of NAP

Bangladesh has made progress on safety standards in the readymade garment (RMG) sector but more needs to be done on both labour and human rights grounds, the European Union's visiting Everything But Arms (EBA) review mission told Bangladeshi officials yesterday.

In a press statement issued Wednesday, it stressed the need to fully implement the National Action Plan (NAP) agreed by Bangladesh on the labour sector, including guaranteeing freedom of association and representative participation of labour unions through tripartite consultation. 

The mission regretted that the recent amendments to the Bangladesh Labour Act only partially addressed the concerns of the EU and the ILO.

The next EU GSP (generalised scheme of preferences) report, which includes a detailed assessment of compliance by Bangladesh with the EBA conditionality, will be published at the end of November. The EU will take stock of progress on the reforms at the next EU-Bangladesh Joint Commission, which is foreseen to take place in Spring 2024.

It pointed out the challenges that still remain in both labour and human rights, stressing that Bangladesh needs more efforts to comply with the core EBA conventions, such as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), safeguarding the freedom of expression, freedom of association, the right to peaceful assembly, and creating an enabling environment for civil society to carry out its activities.

The mission, however, welcomed the safety standards in apparel factories and noted some positive steps towards improving economic and social rights.

The EU monitoring mission, which is supposed to end its Dhaka trip today, is assessing the compliance of Bangladesh with its commitments under the EBA trade arrangement that offers duty-free and quota-free access to the EU market to the Least Developed Countries that respect the core conventions on human and labour rights. Bangladesh is the largest beneficiary of the EBA, with exports to the EU market reaching 24 billion euros in 2022.

The team, led by Paola Pampaloni, deputy managing director of the European External Action Service, met with government officials, civil society representatives, trade unions, ready-made garments brands and members of the owners' association, BGMEA.

The EU encouraged Bangladesh to accept and implement the recommendations of the 2023 Universal Periodic Review (UPR) in this regard.

On labour rights, the mission recommends that Bangladesh step up its efforts to ensure that its policies and practices are aligned with International Labour Organisation's (ILO) standards. 

The mission welcomed the commitment by the government to swiftly introduce further amendments of the Bangladesh Labour Law towards these objectives. Noting delays in the agreed timetable under the NAP, the EU team urged the authorities to accelerate the necessary reforms.

"We will continue to work closely with the Bangladesh authorities, business, civil society and trade unions to accelerate the necessary reforms," team leader Paola Pampaloni stated