A delegation from the European Parliament's international trade committee is in Bangladesh this week (14-18 November) to assess the country's progress in implementing the multiparty initiative that has been ongoing since the summer of 2013. The initiative, known as the Sustainability Compact, is being conducted by the EU, Canada, the USA, and the International Labour Organisation (ILO) in collaboration with the government of Bangladesh in order to improve working standards and conditions and the safety of the work place in the Bangladeshi textile industry.
The Parliament's delegation is headed by the chair of the international trade committee, Bernd Lange (S&D, Germany), and involves visits to factories and meetings with representatives from the government of Bangladesh, unions and civil society organisations in order to assess the progress made thus far and identify the outstanding challenges.
The MEPs and local officials will also discuss the role of less developed countries (LDCs) in the WTO, and the EU's unilateral trade preferences (Bangladesh currently enjoys such trade preferences from the EU, which will be reviewed by the end of 2017).
Last spring, on the third anniversary of the collapse of the Rana Plaza textile factory in Dacca on 24 April 2013 – which claimed over 1,100 lives and was the umpteenth tragic episode in a series of factory accidents in the country – the European Commission reiterated the EU's long term commitment to the Sustainability Compact on 22 April.
In addition to Lange, the European Parliament's delegation includes Sajjad Karim (ECR, UK), Anges Jongerius (S&D, Netherlands) Hannu Takkula (ALDE, Finland), Adam Szejnfeld (EPP, Poland), Boleslaw Piecha (ECR, Poland), Jean Lambert (Greens/EFA, UK). (Original version in French by Emmanuel Hagry)