US will be notified about labour law amendment: Commerce Secy

The United States will be notified about the recent amendments to the labour law and Bangladesh Export Processing Zones Authority (BEPZA) Act, Commerce Ministry’s Senior Secretary Tapan Kanti Ghosh said today. 

He made the remark during a press conference at his office in Secretariat.

“We held a meeting today to discuss the implementation of labor rights as outlined in our national action plan. We assessed our progress to date and identified areas for further improvement. As Bangladesh transitions from a least developed country (LDC) to a developing country in 2026, the European Union and other nations are seeking our commitment to uphold labour standards. We discussed strategies to fulfill these commitments,” the senior commerce secretary said.

When asked whether the United States would be formally notified of these decisions, he said that the requests from the US, including labour law reform and amendments to the BEPZA act, have been fulfilled.

“We will inform the United States of this progress within the next few days,” he said.

“We have ratified the International Labour Organization (ILO) conventions, ensuring that our labour laws adhere to certain standards. We have complied with their request to lower the unionization threshold — from 20% to 15% of the total workforce in a factory,” he added.