Source: CNN Money
By Charles Riley
Bangladesh must make its factories safer or risk the loss of privileged access to the country’s biggest market after a building collapse killed hundreds of garment industry workers.
The warning from the European Union is the latest sign that governments and retailers are turning up the heat on Bangladesh over the high risk environment created by the country’s ultra-low wages and lack of safety regulations.
Last week, more than 400 workers were killed when a garment factory building collapsed. The tragedy follows two factory fires in November that killed more than 100 workers.
“The sheer scale of this disaster and the alleged criminality around the building’s construction is finally becoming clear to the world,” EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton and trade commissioner Karel de Gucht said in a statement.
The EU is Bangladesh’s top trading partner, and the country enjoys duty and quota-free access to EU markets through a program called the Generalized System of Preferences.
Categories: Asia, Bangladesh