Accord seeks to extend its stay in Bangladesh

In order to complete remediation process of the garment factories in Bangladesh, the factory inspection agency, Accord, seeks to extend its stay in the country for another three years. The legally-binding agency’s stay is scheduled to end in 2018.

Accord, which comprises of 200 European apparel retailers, has been monitoring more than 700 readymade garment factories in the country since 2013. Rob Wayss, Accord’s Executive Director for Bangladesh Operations, reportedly said, “Several of the Accord members are in discussion to extend the tenure as full remediation of the factories might not be possible by the set time.”

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However, Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) has criticized this move of Accord. After a meeting with the Accord and H&M local representatives at the BGMEA office yesterday, Mahmud Hasan Khan, Vice President of BGMEA said, “Remediation is a continuous process. As per recommendations of the Accord and Alliance, we have done a lot of work.”.

Moreover, Mahmud called for merging the three separately working inspection agencies: Accord, Alliance and Government initiative into one platform for better inspection of the factory buildings to strengthen workplace safety.