The factory safety assessment reports provided by the ILO-hired firms were not being accepted by the Accord on fire and building Safety in Bangladesh. The apparel exporters told this to a high-powered International Labour Organisation delegation.

Bangladesh’s readymade garment factories (RMG) are undergoing double inspections because of the rejection from the European retailers’ group. The delegation of the ILO’s Direct Contacts Mission, in a meeting with the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), wanted to know about the country’s progress on the ongoing safety assessment and whether the amended labour law had been implemented in the RMG sector or not.

Md Siddiqur Rahman, President, BGMEA said that the ILO team wanted to know about the trade union activities, number of Workers Participation Committee in the factories, activities of the Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishments, and formation of Occupational Health and Safety Committee in the RMG sector.

He added that they had informed the ILO team that the labour law was implemented and the registration of trade unions had increased in the sector. Besides, the team was told that the labour law implementation rules were just passed and the formation of Occupational Health and Safety Committee remains under process, Rahman stated.

The ILO team wanted to know in detail about the progress on the factory inspection programme, Rahman said. He added that the trade body informed that Accord, the platform of the EU retailers, was not accepting the inspection reports provided by the ILO teams.

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