The European Union has called upon the Bangladeshi authorities to act immediately to ensure that factories comply with international labor standards including International Labor Organization conventions.
The call was made by EU Foreign Policy chief Catherine Ashton and EU Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht in the wake of the deaths of young workers from a fire at the weekend in a garment factory in Bangladesh capital Dhaka.
The fire on Saturday killed seven workers, barely two months after a factory blaze in the city left 112 workers dead and prompted widespread calls to improve safety in the sector.
"The EU is Bangladesh's largest trade partner and Bangladesh benefits from preferential access to the EU market. The European Union is deeply concerned about the labor conditions, including health and safety provisions, established for workers in factories across the country," Ashton and De Gucht said in a joint statement on Wednesday.
The EU offered assistance to the Bangladeshi authorities "in any way it can to meet international standards." At the same time, it called upon European and international companies "to do more to promote better health and safety standards in garment factories in Bangladesh, in line with internationally recognized guidelines on Corporate Social Responsibility."
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