The International Labour Organization (ILO) and the European Union (EU) have reportedly set November 2017 as the deadline for Bangladesh to submit the final amendment report pertaining to its labour laws (for Export Processing Zone also).
The timeline has also been defined to the country for convincing the international community, especially the EU, to continue its Generalised Scheme of Preferences (GSP) facility. The EU’s GSP allows developing countries like Bangladesh to pay less or no duties on their exports to the region. This gives them vital access to the EU markets and contributes to their economic growth.
The Labour Secretary of Bangladesh, Mikail Shipar, has reportedly expressed hope that preparation of the draft of the amendment to the labour laws and labour laws of the EPZ will be completed by the end of the next month.
A high-ranked Government official, while talking to the reporters in Dhaka recently, maintained that the Bangladesh Government has already started the procedure to amend the existing labour laws.
Meanwhile, the European Union (EU) has reportedly written to Bangladesh twice ‘threatening’ to suspend the trade privilege that the country enjoys from the EU if the country fails to improves its labour rights.
Following the developments, the Bangladesh Government has formed a high-level committee headed by Kamal Abdul Naser Chowdhury, Principal Secretary to Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, to look into the amendments of the existing labour laws.
