Officials of the Ministry of Commerce (MoC) have expressed their reservation on proposals for inclusion of labour issues in the World Trade Organisation (WTO) system, at a recent preparatory meeting on the just-postponed ministerial conference of the WTO.
Media reports maintained this adding the concerned officials of the MoC, reportedly, sent a note to Bangladesh’s Permanent Mission in Geneva, so that the issue is taken seriously and raised with the proper forum while underlining that Bangladesh is not in favour of inclusion of labour issues in any trade deal.
The reports further added that some of the wealthier members of the WTO proposed to add labour issues to the WTO objectives even if later, the WTO Secretariat, seeking opinions on the same, forwarded the proposal to the member countries, while in the meantime, the BTC or the Bangladesh Tariff Commission, reportedly, studied the requirements of reviewing the existing rules and regulations for signing of FTAs and preferential trade agreements (PTAs).
They, reportedly, did not find that there was any mention of labour issues in the country’s existing FTAs and PTAs even if on the other hand, various richer nations are keen to include labour issues in the FTA and PTA deals.
