Bangladesh: The EU supply chain contradictions

News that the EU may take action against Bangladesh, who enjoy preferential access to European markets, reaches us this morning via Reuters.

It could take a year for the 27 nations to agree that this status should be revoked. And then what?

It was only a few months in December ago that I wrote about Walmart having prices to die for having read of a campaign by victims of an earlier factory fire. I'd described the approach to doing business which embeds human rights in the business model.

It would surely be far easier for European business to thoroughly vet their supply chains and for this to be re-inforced by customer solidarity.

We have a Bangladesh based supplier ourselves, though I'll admit, we haven't yet been able to secure a sale of their hospital management software, in an NHS market dominated by corporate outsourcers. As I've argued before, of far greater social value than the £12.7 billion thrown away in abandoned development.

Regrettably, as I wrote earlier there is little support for local practice of social value supply chains, let alone in an international context. As we've seen from the Horse Meat scandal, there's a limit to what supply chain vetting can or will do where the interpretation of law is more flexible than our own.  How do we imagine, can Bangladesh government mitigate against corruption?

We have the same experience in Eastern Europe in advocacy for Ukraine to gain access to European markets, a campaign enthusiasticaly prromoted by former Trade Minister Lord Mandelson, who it's alleged was sponsored by Ukraine's leading oligarch.  As Kyiv Post reported in 2011 with the article 'Deadly Greed' there have been many deaths due to poor safely conditions in the mining operations of his corporation.  

Mandelson was also UK business secretary when the Labour government rejected my petition for social enterprises to be paid on time. In 2009 at a social enterpriser summit he had said that his government were helping those who help others,

In a 2008 consutation, I'd approached the EU with a proposal for social business drawing attention to the needs of children in particular and the self-interest of tackling an HIV epidemic buy placing chidren in loving family homes.

EU commissioner Michel Barnier was tackled about this recently when I drew his attention to their misuse of intellectual property. His denial made it clear that we remain without support while the usual suspects fignt their way onto another gravy train.

When the consequences of their rather visible hand in the market include deaths of employees and dismissal of the vulnerable, the EU appears increasingly inept and self-serving.