The US Ambassador in Dhaka Marcia Stephens Bloom Bernicat had recently called upon the garment sector of Bangladesh to improve the working conditions of the workers involved in apparel manufacturing, in order to regain the Generalised System of Preference (GSP) as well as to boost garment exports.
Also Read – Bangladesh Closer than Ever to Get Back GSP: US
“Importers will not like to buy garments from Bangladesh unless the country improved its working environment in the sector,” Bernicat reportedly said at an event organised recently.
The Generalized System of Preferences, or GSP, is a preferential tariff system that provides for a formal system of exemption from the more general rules of the World Trade Organization (WTO). Specifically, it’s a system of exemption from the most favoured nation principle (MFN) that obliges WTO member countries to treat the imports of all other WTO member countries no worse than they treat the imports of their ‘most favoured’ trading partner. In essence, the MFN requires WTO member countries to treat imports coming from all other WTO member countries equally, that is, by imposing equal tariffs on them, etc.
Also Read – Bangladesh hasn’t met all GSP conditions, says US Trade Representative
However, USA suspended the trade privilege enjoyed by Bangladesh under the Generalised System of Preference in 2013, following two devastating accidents in RMG sector, fire at Tazreen Fashions and collapse of Rana Plaza building that housed several RMG units. Further, it also set a total of 18 conditions, including improvement in working condition and safety of workers later on, for Bangladesh to get back the privilege, which the Bangladesh government reportedly claims has almost been fulfilled. Although USA reportedly accepted that Bangladesh has made progress towards fulfilling the laid down conditions, it maintained that the country was yet to reach the target.
