EU EBA monitoring mission to Bangladesh, 13 to 18 March 2022
A team of EU officials travelled from Brussels to carry out an official monitoring mission to Bangladesh from Sunday 13 March to Friday 18 March 2022. They reviewed the country’s progress in the context of the enhanced engagement process under the Everything But Arms (EBA) arrangement.
Over the week, the officials held wide-ranging meetings with representatives of the Bangladeshi Government, including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Commerce, the Ministry of Labour and Employment and Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs. The officials also met with representatives of civil society, trade unions and employers, and had exchanges with EU Member States’ Ambassadors and UN agencies.
The monitoring mission addressed issues relating to human rights and labour rights. In particular, discussions focused on the Government’s implementation of the National Action Plan on the Labour Sector and the compliance with human rights obligations. The EU conveyed to the Bangladeshi authorities the need to address all remaining issues in a timely and effective manner.
The EBA is a special arrangement for least developed countries, providing them with duty-free, quota-free access for all products except arms and ammunition, in exchange for commitments to respect the principles of core international conventions on human rights and labour rights.
