Garment factory inspection agency Accord is in talks with the Bangladesh government to extend its tenure in the country beyond June 2018 so that it can ensure completion of remediation works in all its member factories. The platform is planning to extend its stay in Bangladesh by another three years, much to the displeasure of garment factory owners.

The number of factories from which the 220 Accord signatories source has expanded much since the inspections started in February 2014. Currently, the number of signatories stands above 7,000. Accord is now conducting its fourth batch of preliminary inspections. This means the more recently inspected factories will not have finished with their remediation by June 2018.

Accord's first batch of inspections concluded in September 2014 and remediation works in this group of factories will most definitely be complete by June 2018. About 72 per cent of the total findings from the initial inspections are reported as corrected by the factories and/or verified as corrected by Accord engineers. After the Rana Plaza building tragedy, 220 retailers joined hands to form the Accord with the view to fixing the structural, electrical and fire loopholes in Bangladesh's garment factories.