The Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh will leave the country after its current tenure gets over in 2018.
Meanwhile, the remediation of the RMG factories will also be completed satisfactorily.
This was reported by a news agency of Bangladesh which underlined that the Accord steering committee reached a consensus in this regard after meeting Tofail Ahmed, Commerce Minister of Bangladesh at his secretariat office in Dhaka recently.
“The Government, BGMEA, and representatives from brands have decided that the Accord will leave within the stipulated deadline,” Tofail reportedly announced after the meeting.
The Minister also mentioned that as per the agreement (signed when Accord was formed in 2013 after the Rana Plaza incident), Accord’s work to improve the safety situation in Bangladesh’s garment industry would be over by May 31, 2018.
As per the reports, Accord would be provided an additional six months to hand over the charge to the National Initiative of Bangladesh – Transitional Accord. The body will take over the remediation initiative from the buyers’ platform.
The Commerce Minister, however, maintained that the transition process might get delayed. A Remediation Coordination Cell (RCC) under the Ministry of Labour and Employment would monitor the safety improvement work during the course.
President of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) Siddiqur Rahman, FBCCI President Shafiul Islam Mohiuddin and BGMEA Vice President Mahmud Hasan Khan Babu were also present in the meeting.
Earlier, Accord had unilaterally declared to extend its tenure until 2021.
On the other hand, Alliance, another platform of North American buyers, has already informed the Government that it would complete its work and leave Bangladesh on due time.
