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The government has made a time-bound commitment to address the European Union (EU)'s concerns over labour rights issues aimed at retaining the GSP (Generalised Scheme of Preferences) facility, officials said.
The government made its resolve to do so in a draft action plan sent to the EU last Thursday, they added.
Earlier in the last week of November 2019, the EU provided the Bangladesh government with a list of 'suggested actions on labour rights' to retain trade benefits under its EBA (everything but arms) initiative.
The EU also asked the government to develop a draft time-bound roadmap to address the issues and send it to the EU by January 02, they said.
The government pledged to complete the amendment to the rules concerned in line with Bangladesh Labour (amended) Act 2018 by June 2020 and amend the BLA further by the end of 2022 as per the recommendations of International Labour Organisation, according to the nine-point action plan.
The other issues are amendment to EPZ (export processing zone) labour law in line with International Labour Organisation (ILO) conventions, establishing an action plan to eliminate child labour by 2025 and combating violence against workers.
The issues also included increasing the success rate of trade union registration application, clearing the backlog of cases in labour courts, filling vacant posts of labour inspectors, ensuring proper work of the remediation coordination cell and ratifying ILO conventions 29 and 138.
When asked, a top government official involved with the process said they have already submitted the time-bound action plan to the EU, setting a timeframe from six months to six years to implement actions on labour rights suggested by the EU.
Bangladesh's action plan for addressing the EU concerns over specific labour issues would be finalised in February next with the support of ILO, he added.
The draft action plan sent to the EU specifying the completion time was prepared in consultation with stakeholders concerned, he said.
The labour ministry promised to issue a gazette notification on the amendment to the rules of labour law by the first half of this year and formation of a tripartite committee for further amendment to BLA by the third quarter of 2021, according to the action plan.
The labour ministry communicated with the authority concerned over the issues related to EPZ Labour Act and Bangladesh Economic Zones Authority would provide action plan on it, sources said.
The labour ministry promised to complete the amendment to BLA by the end of 2022 saying that a reasonable gestation time is required to gather implementation experience before further amendment to the labour law.
The EU recommended removal of the provision of imprisonment of workers for taking part in the activities of an unregistered trade union and restrictions on the establishment of trade union and prohibiting interference in trade union elections and activity.
The government pledged to provide capacity-building training to the inspectors of Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishments (DIFE) by 2023 to eliminate child labour by 2025.
According to the plan, it also promised to make newly established labour courts in Sylhet, Barishal and Rangpur fully functional by the end of this year and establish four more labour courts in Narayanganj, Gazipur, Cumilla and Faridpur by 2021 to clear the backlog of cases.
The government would fill vacant posts of labour inspectors by the first quarter of next year.
The DIFE would consider the possibility to work with RMG Sustainability Council in consultation with Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association, Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association and Bangladesh Employers Federation by mid-2020.
Bangladesh would ratify the ILO protocol 29 on forced labour by the end of this year, it added.
Technical mission representing the EU EBA visited Bangladesh on October 14-16 last year to investigate their concerns related to labour rights situation in the country.
The EU is the single largest destination of Bangladesh-made exportable goods.
About 62 per cent (worth US$21.13 billion) of the total $34.13-billion readymade garment products were shipped to EU from Bangladesh in the last fiscal year (2018-19), according to the BGMEA data.