US committed to Bangladesh's RMG sector

During a meeting last Wednesday in Dhaka between US ambassador to Bangladesh Marcia Stephens Bloom Bernicat and the Bangladeshi prime minister Sheikh Hasina, the US envoy reaffirmed her country's commitment in terms of helping improve Bangladesh's ready-made garment (RMG) sector.

"We are committed to helping Bangladesh's readymade garment sector...this is not a political issue and we are working hard so that Bangladesh could meet the requirements in the sector," she said.

While talking about the initiatives that have been taken by the government of Bangladesh for the RMG sector, Bernicat mentioned that US buyers are interested to know under which conditions garment workers in Bangladesh operate. She appreciated the country's success on different socioeconomic fronts, among them women's empowerment, and others: "Not only in the garment sector, Bangladesh is also doing well in agro-based industries and shipbuilding sector under the leadership of the prime minister," said Bernicat.

Though on everyone's mind, the GSP issue was not mentioned during the courtesy call. "The GSP issue was not mentioned but she reiterated that the US decision was not political," Hasina's press secretary Ihsanul Karim told reporters after the meeting.

After the Tazreen factory fire and the Rana Plaza disaster that killed hundreds of garment workers in 2013, the US stopped the Generalised System of Preference (GSP) for Bangladeshi products. The country was then given 16 conditions to fulfil for the restoration of the benefit. Though the Bangladeshi government claims the conditions have been met, the US is not yet satisfied.

The 2013 suspension did not directly hit Bangladesh's garment exports as it was not among the almost 5,000 commodities covered under the scheme. The US recently renewed the GSP facility for 122 countries - among them for competitors like Pakistan and Sri Lanka - but not for Bangladesh.