Dhaka: US Ambassador in Dhaka Marcia Bernicat has renewed US position saying the restoration of GSP benefit for Bangladesh will depend on the progress to be made under the US-prescribed GSP (Generalised System of Preferences) Action Plan.  

‘Restoration of GSP will depend on the progress your government makes under the GSP Action Plan,’ she said reminding the 16 points of the Action Plan when a questioner asked about the fate of Bangladesh regarding the restoration of tariff benefit that remained suspended for long.

The US diplomat was chatting with Facebook followers on Sunday as she marked one-year anniversary as US Ambassador in Dhaka on 25 January.  

She mostly talked about the RMG sector in light of the recent meeting on the Sustainability Compact implementation.

Earlier on 3 February, Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed in Parliament said the Trade and Investment Cooperation Framework Agreement (Ticfa) will not be effective until Bangladesh gets back GSP benefit in the US market.  

Responding to another question, Bernicat said she visited factories that have fully remediated and applauded them for their leadership in this effort. ‘Far too many, however, lag behind, as the recent fire at the Matrix Sweater Factory demonstrates.’

She said the US proudly remains the single largest importer of Bangladeshi readymade garments (RMG). ‘We expect that trade to continue to grow, despite the fact GSP does not provide benefits for RMG from any country in the world.’

Bernicat said all GSP countries pay the same duties and taking steps to ensure workers' rights is 'required for a country to be eligible for GSP.'

She mentioned that many people right now are working to ensure worker rights, as well as worker safety, are improved.  

‘The U.S. is part of this effort and will continue to be until Bangladesh can demonstrate progress in areas such as expeditious union registration and for factories to fix the safety problems that were identified during the initial assessments,’ said the US envoy.

These improvements, she said, will benefit most of all the workers and factory owners here in Bangladesh.