US, Bangladesh Officials Talk Trade

Trade officials from the United States and Bangladesh discussed worker rights and intellectual property protections yesterday at the seventh meeting of the bilateral Trade and Investment Cooperation Forum Agreement Council.

US officials stressed the importance of supporting workers’ rights, including freedom of association and collective bargaining and combating violence against workers and union organizers. The US side noted the ongoing review of potential amendments to the Bangladesh Labor Act and encouraged Bangladesh to extend freedom of association and collective bargaining to Bangladesh’s Special Economic Zones and Export Processing Zones.

“The United States recognized that Bangladesh had undertaken some efforts to address hurdles workers face when registering unions, and stressed the importance of ensuring a simplified and
impartial trade union registration process that allows for applications to be registered within the legal timeframe,” according to USTR. Bangladesh also was urged to dedicate more resources to
labor inspections and enforcement.

Both sides discussed the importance of the protection and enforcement of intellectual property (IP) for protecting innovation across economies. The United States reiterated its interest in engaging with Bangladesh on ongoing processes for amendments to IP-related laws and regulations, including the Copyright Act Amendments, Industrial Designs Act, Patent Bill and Implementing Regulations and IPR Enforcement Rules.

US officials called for Bangladesh to take action against counterfeit clothing, as the country currently ranks as one of the top source economies for counterfeit clothing globally as noted in USTR’s 2023 Special 301 Report.

Both sides affirmed their commitment to the protection of personal data and ensuring that Bangladesh’s digital sector continues to thrive. The US side welcomed the latest draft version of
the Bangladesh’s Data Protection Act, which incorporated improvements from earlier versions, including the removal of criminal penalties, restricting the scope of the DPA to personal data and limiting application to firms that process personal data within the territory of Bangladesh.