Badrul Ahsan :
Accord, a platform of European brands and buyers, is still adamant to extend its presence in Bangladesh for another three years although the Alliance for Bangladesh Worker’s Safety, a consortium of North American brands and buyers, has already expressed its’ unwillingness to stay here beyond 2018.
Both the government and garment manufacturers opposed the extension of Accord and termed its decision ‘a unilateral one’.
At the end of June this year, European Union fashion brands and retailers and global union federations announced a new deal named Accord 2018, stating that the new Accord would carry on the Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh’s remediation activities in the RMG sector after May next year when the tenure of the current deal expires.
The new agreement has so far been signed by 25 leading fashion brands including Kmart Australia, Target Australia, Primark, H&M, Inditex (Zara), C&A, Otto, KiK, Aldi South, Aldi North, Lidl, Tchibo and LC Waikiki.
The government also expressed its dissatisfaction over the decision of EU brands for extending Accord for three more years.
Opposing any extension of Accord and Alliance, country’s apparel exporters have planned a new initiative comprising the government, BGMEA, ILO, trade unions and global brands to replace buyers’ platforms.
However, Alliance and Accord have been working to improve workplace safety situation in Bangladesh’s readymade garment sector.
“Alliance country director James F Moriarty has confirmed to the BGMEA that the five-year tenure of the platform would not be extended,” BGMEA vice-president Mahmud Hasan Khan Babu told The New Nation on Wednesday.
He said that BGMEA president Md Siddiqur Rahman received an e-mail from the Alliance on August 16 in which Moriarty said that they were expecting to complete their programme within the tenure.
“We are still in talks with the Accord not to extend their tenure for another 3 years. But they are still firm to extend their tenure. We are still hopeful that they will change their decision,” he added.
Following the Rana Plaza collapse in April 2013 that claimed lives of more than 1,100 workers, global unions, non-governmental organisations and EU brands formed the Accord while North American retailers formed the Alliance undertaking a five-year plan which set timeframes and accountability for inspections and training and workers’ empowerment programmes.
Accord engineers carried out fire, electrical and structural safety inspections at more than 1,800 factories, identifying 1,18,500 hazards while Alliance inspection teams inspected 759 factories.
79 per cent of workplace dangers that were identified in the Accord’s original round of inspections have been remediated so far. Up to April this year, 73 per cent of all required repairs across active Alliance factories have been completed.
Accord and Alliance have so far cut business relations with 248 RMG factories due to their failure in implementing workplace safety programmes.
Out of the 248 factories, Alliance cut business relations with 159 supplier factories while Accord terminated 89 factories.
As many as 83 Accord-listed factories have so far completed all the remediation work while 144 Alliance-listed factories completed full safety remediation.
Referring to Moriarty’s e-mail, the BGMEA vice-president said that the Alliance might continue to work in the country for a short period of time after the end of its’ tenure to ensure a smooth transition of its safety responsibilities to a Bangladesh-centred body, but they (Alliance) did not have any plan to stay on beyond 2018.
Accord, a platform of European brands and buyers, is still adamant to extend its presence in Bangladesh for another three years although the Alliance for Bangladesh Worker’s Safety, a consortium of North American brands and buyers, has already expressed its’ unwillingness to stay here beyond 2018.
Both the government and garment manufacturers opposed the extension of Accord and termed its decision ‘a unilateral one’.
At the end of June this year, European Union fashion brands and retailers and global union federations announced a new deal named Accord 2018, stating that the new Accord would carry on the Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh’s remediation activities in the RMG sector after May next year when the tenure of the current deal expires.
The new agreement has so far been signed by 25 leading fashion brands including Kmart Australia, Target Australia, Primark, H&M, Inditex (Zara), C&A, Otto, KiK, Aldi South, Aldi North, Lidl, Tchibo and LC Waikiki.
The government also expressed its dissatisfaction over the decision of EU brands for extending Accord for three more years.
Opposing any extension of Accord and Alliance, country’s apparel exporters have planned a new initiative comprising the government, BGMEA, ILO, trade unions and global brands to replace buyers’ platforms.
However, Alliance and Accord have been working to improve workplace safety situation in Bangladesh’s readymade garment sector.
“Alliance country director James F Moriarty has confirmed to the BGMEA that the five-year tenure of the platform would not be extended,” BGMEA vice-president Mahmud Hasan Khan Babu told The New Nation on Wednesday.
He said that BGMEA president Md Siddiqur Rahman received an e-mail from the Alliance on August 16 in which Moriarty said that they were expecting to complete their programme within the tenure.
“We are still in talks with the Accord not to extend their tenure for another 3 years. But they are still firm to extend their tenure. We are still hopeful that they will change their decision,” he added.
Following the Rana Plaza collapse in April 2013 that claimed lives of more than 1,100 workers, global unions, non-governmental organisations and EU brands formed the Accord while North American retailers formed the Alliance undertaking a five-year plan which set timeframes and accountability for inspections and training and workers’ empowerment programmes.
Accord engineers carried out fire, electrical and structural safety inspections at more than 1,800 factories, identifying 1,18,500 hazards while Alliance inspection teams inspected 759 factories.
79 per cent of workplace dangers that were identified in the Accord’s original round of inspections have been remediated so far. Up to April this year, 73 per cent of all required repairs across active Alliance factories have been completed.
Accord and Alliance have so far cut business relations with 248 RMG factories due to their failure in implementing workplace safety programmes.
Out of the 248 factories, Alliance cut business relations with 159 supplier factories while Accord terminated 89 factories.
As many as 83 Accord-listed factories have so far completed all the remediation work while 144 Alliance-listed factories completed full safety remediation.
Referring to Moriarty’s e-mail, the BGMEA vice-president said that the Alliance might continue to work in the country for a short period of time after the end of its’ tenure to ensure a smooth transition of its safety responsibilities to a Bangladesh-centred body, but they (Alliance) did not have any plan to stay on beyond 2018.
