The US is willing to restore GSP facility to Bangladesh if the country makes satisfactory progress in workers’ safety and rights. The US has urged Bangladesh to accelerate its efforts to ensure workers’ rights and to take measures to address continuing reports of harassment of and violence against labor activists who are attempting to exercise their rights.

Bangladesh says there is no labor unrest in the country and trade union activities are permitted. It says, laborers have been given congenial work environments and the amended labor law will be implemented within a week or two. In the meantime it wants the Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) facility including duty-free and quota-free market access in the US. The US suspended Bangladesh from its GSP list in June 2013, based on Bangladesh’s failure to meet statutory eligibility requirements related to worker rights.

Under the general supervision of the Bangladesh government, over 2,000 initial safety inspections of factories have been completed in the readymade garment sector over the last year, most by teams organised by private sector initiatives led by North American and European brands and retailers.

These inspections resulted in the closure of at least 31 factories, the partial closure of 17 additional factories, and the identification of needed remedial measures in hundreds more.