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Bangladesh sees US playing politics on GSP, US ambassador rubbishes it

The Bangladesh commerce minister Tofail Ahmed has said that the US excluded his country from duty privileges on political grounds, an assertion the US Ambassador to Bangladesh Marcia Bernicat publicly disagreed with. The minister said the US has reinstated Bangladesh's Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) status despite fulfilling all the 16 conditions laid out by the Obama administration in 2013.

After having met Bernicat to announce the postponement of this year's Trade and Investment Cooperation Forum Agreement (TICFA) meeting earlier scheduled for December 13, Tofail said there is no reason other than a political one for not giving back GSP to Bangladesh. Bernicat has said America absolutely disagrees that there was a political basis for GSP suspension.

The Obama administration suspended GSP status in the aftermath of the Rana Plaza building collapse, citing serious shortcomings in workplace safety and labour rights. Tofail said he does not agree with the claims that workers' rights in Bangladesh have not improved since the suspension of GSP.

Bangladesh amended labour lasw in July 2013 to allow workers full freedom of association at the factory level. But labour activists say they still face restrictions in entering factory premises and the government has failed to register their unions, which would have otherwise given them the legal right to represent workers.

 
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