President Barack Obama announced Thursday the suspension of U.S. trade privileges for Bangladesh in response to growing concerns over labor rights and worker safety there.

The decision is the culmination of a years-long review of labor conditions in the impoverished nation. Pressure on the Obama administration to act intensified after more than 1,200 people died when a factory collapsed April 24, one of the global garment industry's worst accidents.

In a proclamation, Obama said Bangladesh was not taking steps to afford internationally recognized worker rights to employees in that country.