Implement roadmap on ending child labour in agri, households by 2024: EU tells Bangladesh

The European Union has sought a concrete roadmap from Bangladesh on ending child labour in agriculture and domestic works in order to continue enjoying duty-free exports facilities to the 27-nation bloc after LDC graduation.

At the same time, Bangladesh has to make primary education enjoyable for children to prevent dropouts, the EU said in a letter.

The EU, the largest market of Bangladesh's export products, also said the 2025 roadmap submitted by the government for amending labour laws and labour regulations to meet the nine-point action plan issued by the EU has to be implemented by 2024.   

The EU, however, found that Bangladesh is lagging behind in the implementation of various issues compared to the timeframe announced in the roadmap.

In a separate note verbale – an unsigned diplomatic note written in the third person – on January 16, the EU sent the meeting agenda proposing to hold a 3+3 meeting online on 14 and 16 February. 

The agenda includes- bringing Bangladesh labour laws in compliance with ILO standards, elimination of child labour by 2025, combating violence against workers, harassment, unfair labour practices, anti-union discrimination; labor inspection and remediation of factories.

The EU proposed to convene a 3+3 meeting with the foreign, trade and labour secretaries on the implementation of the action plan, where DG Trade Director Dora Correia, DG Employment Jordi Curell and European Union External Action Deputy Managing Director, Asia and Pacific region on behalf of the EU Paola Pampaloni will be attending. 

Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal said in the budget implementation report of the first quarter of the current fiscal year presented to the National Assembly last Thursday, "The import share criterion was included in the draft of the new GSP regulation in the European Union, the largest export market of Bangladesh, which had the possibility of disrupting Bangladesh's duty-free access in the future. It is known that the condition has been dropped as the government negotiated at different levels.

"As a result, Bangladesh's transition from LDC to GSP Plus may be smooth. All in all, even after the transition of LDC, the efforts to ensure priority market access to the largest export market of Bangladesh in the European Union are continuing," said the finance minister.

Asked, Senior Secretary to the Ministry of Commerce Tapan Kanti Ghosh told The Business Standard that a meeting was held with the foreign secretary and the labour secretary on  5 January.

The labour secretary said the revision of the labour law will be completed by next June.

"We are a little behind the roadmap schedule in terms of implementation of various issues due to a number of reasons…Hopefully, this problem will not exist in the coming days," he said.

According to a joint letter signed by EU DG trade director, DG employment and deputy managing director Asia and Pacific, "The compliance with international labour standards is not only a condition for remaining eligible of the existing `Everything But Arms' [EBA] trade preferences. It is also of utmost importance that Bangladesh fully implements the NAP [National Action Plan] as per the stipulated timelines since this will be the key criteria for granting possible GSP+ to Bangladesh, if requested by the government."   

The EU has enacted new GSP rules, which will come into effect from January 2024. As a Least Developed Country (LDC), Bangladesh is entitled to get the existing EBA facility, but the EU has given conditions for its implementation with a nine-point action plan.

Amendments, revisions needed

In the letter sent on December 22, the EU said there has been a revision of the Bangladesh Labor Rules, but most points that needed to be addressed per the NAP have not been covered.

The EU also said the recently adopted EPZ Labour Rules still need to be brought in compliance with international labour standards, including to allow trade unions and independent and unannounced labour inspections by Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishments (DIFE) in EPZs.  

Reviewing the updated report on the status of implementation of the Roadmap in Bangladesh, the EU said, "We welcome the adding of five sectors to the list of hazardous jobs for children. However, the very relevant agricultural and domestic work sectors are still missing.

"Action in the area of education as the most decisive instrument to eliminate child labour, as referred to in the NAP, is however not mentioned at all in the second NAP report," it added.

Regarding how to combat violence against workers, harassment, unfair labour practices, anti-union discrimination, the EU said there has not been any follow-up in regard to the state of investigation of incidents of workers being injured, killed or stopped from attending trade union meetings as raised in a letter on 21 April 2022.

Regarding labour inspectors, the EU said they acknowledged the training done for the labour inspectors., but said only 59 new inspectors joined DIFE, leaving almost 200 posts still to be filled by the end of 2022.