Apparel exporters on Monday told a high-powered International Labour Organisation delegation that the Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh was not accepting the factory safety assessment reports provided by the ILO-hired firms despite the fact that the inspections were carried out under common standards. Due to the rejection from the European retailers’ group, Bangladesh’s readymade garment factories are undergoing double inspections. In a meeting with the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association, the delegation of the ILO’s Direct Contacts Mission 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. Delegation head Karon Moanghan, members Coen Kompier, Al-Wreidat Amin and Siska Dubbert, BGMEA president Md Siddiqur Rahman, senior vice-president Faruque Hassan and vice-presidents Mohammed Nasir and Mahmud Hasan Khan Babu were present, among others, in the meeting held at the BGMEA headquarters in the capital. ‘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,’ Siddiqur told New Age after the meeting. ‘We have informed the ILO team that the labour law has been implemented and the registration of trade unions has increased in the sector. We have also told the team that the labour law implementation rules have just been passed and the formation of Occupational Health and Safety Committee remains under process,’ he said. The BGMEA president said that the ILO team wanted to know in detail about the progress on the factory inspection programme and the trade body informed that Accord, the platform of the EU retailers, was not accepting the inspection reports provided by the ILO teams. Following the Rana Plaza building collapse two retailers’ groups — Accord and Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety formed by North America buyers — the government and the ILO launched three separate inspection programmes in the RMG sector in accordance with common standards agreed upon by all three parties. Citing disparities between the Labour Act and the EPZ Labour Act, the ILO delegation wanted to know the observation of the BGMEA about the existing conflicting laws that allow trade union activities for the workers outside of the EPZs but not for those in the EPZs, BGMEA vice-president Mahmud Hasan Khan Babu said. The ILO delegation arrived in Dhaka on Saturday to review the improvement of working conditions and labour rights in the RMG sector. The delegation met with senior officials of the labour ministry on Sunday and with trade union leaders and members of the standing committee on the labour ministry on Monday.
