Economic Reporter :
The government has decided to formulate a time-bound strategy for the garment factories, inspected under a national initiative by the end of next month (August). The strategy will aim at mending the flaws in remediated units. The government has already asked the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), the Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA) and the factory owners to complete remediation by the deadline. A labour ministry presentation made the disclosures at a meeting between top government officials and foreign diplomats held at the secretariat in the city recently. Foreign, commerce and labour secretaries Shahidul Haque, Shubhashish Bose and Mikail Shipar respectively, head of the EU delegation to Bangladesh Pierre Mayaudon, US ambassador Marcia Stephens Bloom Bernicat, Canadian high commissioner Benoît-Pierre Laramée, Dutch ambassador Leoni Margaretha Cuelenaere, British high commissioner Alison Blake and ILO Bangladesh country director Srinivas B Reddy, among others, were present in the meeting. “Under the national initiative, 21 per cent remediation has been completed,” according to the paper that also added that 95 per cent remediation of 418 factories operating in own buildings will be completed by December 2017 and the rest by February 2018. About 75 per cent of the factories will not require structural retrofitting, it said, adding that consultation with the owners of factories operating in rented or shared buildings is underway for completing the remediation by 2018. Some 1,500 garment factories which remain outside the inspection purview of Accord and Alliance have been inspected by a joint initiative of the government and ILO. Citing a recent boiler explosion in a garment factory-Multifab, Mayaudon said, “…we continue to pay highest attention regarding safety of the factories.” The Bangladesh government made several very important commitments in the ILC (International Labour Conference) held in June in Geneva regarding the total adjustment of Bangladesh Labour Act and redrafting the Export Processing Zones (EPZ) law and improve labour rights and situation in the country, Mr Mayaudon told the reporters after the meeting. The government has committed to finalizing the draft amendments to labour and EPZ laws accommodating all labour-rights issues raised by western stakeholders. If it fails, Bangladesh’s European GSP may also be at risk. According to the commitment, the draft of the amendments has to be sent to the ILO (International Labour Organisation) by August 31. Terming the progress in this regard ‘well advanced’, he said they were informed about the high-level meeting to be held on August 02 to finalise the drafts. Terming the extension of Accord ‘still a debated issue’ he said they had discussed it and highlighted that focus would be on substances rather than modalities. He, however, did not go into detail. The commerce secretary said the envoys wanted to know about the possible changes to be made in the amendments to the labour law and EPZ law.
The government has decided to formulate a time-bound strategy for the garment factories, inspected under a national initiative by the end of next month (August). The strategy will aim at mending the flaws in remediated units. The government has already asked the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), the Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA) and the factory owners to complete remediation by the deadline. A labour ministry presentation made the disclosures at a meeting between top government officials and foreign diplomats held at the secretariat in the city recently. Foreign, commerce and labour secretaries Shahidul Haque, Shubhashish Bose and Mikail Shipar respectively, head of the EU delegation to Bangladesh Pierre Mayaudon, US ambassador Marcia Stephens Bloom Bernicat, Canadian high commissioner Benoît-Pierre Laramée, Dutch ambassador Leoni Margaretha Cuelenaere, British high commissioner Alison Blake and ILO Bangladesh country director Srinivas B Reddy, among others, were present in the meeting. “Under the national initiative, 21 per cent remediation has been completed,” according to the paper that also added that 95 per cent remediation of 418 factories operating in own buildings will be completed by December 2017 and the rest by February 2018. About 75 per cent of the factories will not require structural retrofitting, it said, adding that consultation with the owners of factories operating in rented or shared buildings is underway for completing the remediation by 2018. Some 1,500 garment factories which remain outside the inspection purview of Accord and Alliance have been inspected by a joint initiative of the government and ILO. Citing a recent boiler explosion in a garment factory-Multifab, Mayaudon said, “…we continue to pay highest attention regarding safety of the factories.” The Bangladesh government made several very important commitments in the ILC (International Labour Conference) held in June in Geneva regarding the total adjustment of Bangladesh Labour Act and redrafting the Export Processing Zones (EPZ) law and improve labour rights and situation in the country, Mr Mayaudon told the reporters after the meeting. The government has committed to finalizing the draft amendments to labour and EPZ laws accommodating all labour-rights issues raised by western stakeholders. If it fails, Bangladesh’s European GSP may also be at risk. According to the commitment, the draft of the amendments has to be sent to the ILO (International Labour Organisation) by August 31. Terming the progress in this regard ‘well advanced’, he said they were informed about the high-level meeting to be held on August 02 to finalise the drafts. Terming the extension of Accord ‘still a debated issue’ he said they had discussed it and highlighted that focus would be on substances rather than modalities. He, however, did not go into detail. The commerce secretary said the envoys wanted to know about the possible changes to be made in the amendments to the labour law and EPZ law.
