In its move to crackdown against non-compliant garment making units in Bangladesh, the North American retailers' group Alliance decided to stop work with almost two-dozen garment exporters. Earlier, European buyers-led Accord too took a similar action against eight local garment makers.
The Alliance has published the names of 23 factories on its official website. “The listed factories have been suspended from the Alliance compliant factory list because of their lack of progress in one or more Alliance programs, thereby failing to make progress in ensuring a safe working environment,” the Alliance said. The reasons of suspension included failure to comply with the review panel's recommendations and respond CAP meetings and lack of adequate remediation progress, according to the website.
Contrary to the action taken by these two agencies, Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed recently said that no extension will be granted to Accord and Alliance to monitor Bangladesh’s readymade garment factory conditions. Speaking at the inauguration ceremony of an international exhibition on building and fire safety at the Bangabandhu International Conference Centre in Dhaka, he said that the country’s garment factories have undergone a transformation.
Bangladeshaccord.org www.
bangladeshworkersafety.org
