The recent decision of the Textiles Ministry to recognise Bangladesh Garment Buying House Association (BGBHA) as the licensing authority for registration of the buying house business in the country has emerged as the bone of contention between the BGBHA and the apex garment manufacturers’ body in the country, the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), claimed media reports.
It may be mentioned here that in May last year, the Government had made it mandatory for buying houses to get registered with the Department of Textiles (DoT) and get membership certificate from the concerned trade body.
However, as per reports, the Textile Act 2018 did not specify name of any particular trade body/bodies which’d act as the authorised entity to issue such a certificate.
But, on 4 August, the Textile Ministry reportedly gave recognition to BGBHA as this authority that did not go down well with the BGMEA, which reportedly demanded the Government recognises it as the authority of issuing certificate.
The BGMEA has also, reportedly, written a letter to the concerned ministry requesting it to give registration to its around 1,500 associate members, who are in the business of buying house.
Commenting on this issue, Md. Shahidul Haque Mukul, a Director of BGMEA, underlined that if 1,500 buying houses become inactive owing to the Government’s decision, orders might move out to other countries and going on to add that it won’t be possible for BGBHA to monitor all buying houses in Bangladesh.
