Two western retailer groups – Accord and Alliance – have warned 37 local apparel makers of severing business ties with them for their failure to timely address safety concerns in line with Corrective Action Plans (CAPs), industry insiders said. After initial inspection, both the groups conducting follow-up assessment in their respective listed factories have identified those units where the remedial work is not satisfactory and issued non-compliance letters, they added. The Bangladesh Accord on Fire and Building Safety, led mostly by European buyers, warned some 28 out of 224 factories where it carried out follow-up inspections (fire, electrical and structural) till February 2015. But the Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety, another group led mostly by North American buyers, issued non-compliance letters to some nine units after it found the remedial work there unsatisfactory, people involved with the process said. “If no action is taken following this letter and the Accord doesn’t see adequate progress, the signatory companies in the factory will need to invoke the provisions of the Accord related to non-compliance with required remediation,” according to a recent report posted on the Accord’s website. “Such provisions include termination of business relations and public disclosure of non-compliance on the Accord website,” it warned. Till November last year, the Accord issued non-compliance letters to 13 units while 15 more factories were put on the list during the period between December 2014 and February 2015, Accord Executive Director Rob Wayss told the FE. In reply to a query, he said all the 28 factories responded immediately after issuing the warning while the previous 13 factories already identified immediate requirements. Terming the remediation a continuous process, Mr Wayss said, “But they need to continue the work.” Accord Chief Safety Inspector Brad Loewen explained that the letters were issued as they failed to comply with the CAPs requirements including issues of keeping the exits locked or using the collapsible gates within the deadline. The ministry of labour in January 2013 issued a circular, asking all the garment factory owners to replace collapsible gates by sliding gates or others of this kind that can easily be opened from outside. The Accord shared the issue with respective buyers, labour representatives along with the factory management, Mr Loewen added. However, the Alliance talked with its listed factories where its engineers were not satisfied with the remediation after their follow-up inspections and gave them two weeks, people involved with the process said. The group issued non-compliance letters to nine units finding that in some cases, only two per cent of the remedial work had been done, they said, adding that they were given two more weeks. It would go for termination of business if they fail to comply with the requirements. When asked, Alliance Managing Director M Rabin declined to make any comment in this regard and asked the FE correspondent to talk to the apparel apex body – BGMEA. While contacted, Vice President of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) Md Shahidullah Azim said the association was not officially informed anything about it. Responding to a query, he admitted that if the remediation is two per cent and not up to the desired level, it reflects the ill-motive of the factory management. “But if they are on the process or have identified the requirements up to 10-15 per cent, it reveals good gesture.” Buyers would not place orders to the factories which were not carrying out the remedial work, he noted. “But the deadline should be counted immediately after the fund is available as many factories could not meet all the requirements due to fund crisis,” he said and suggested that the groups inform the apex body of their observations so that BGMEA can consult with that particular factories.
Source: https://www.thefinancialexpress-bd.com/2015/05/20/93340
