Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh, a platform led by the European brands and retailers, has cut business relation with a Chittagong-based apparel factory as the latter failed to implement corrective action plan. The buyers’ group in a press release issued on November 4 said despite numerous efforts by Accord staff and the Accord signatories, owner of the factory, Sadaf Fashions Ltd, continued to refuse to cooperate in the resolution of the health and safety issues at this factory. The owner also refused to comply with an order to evacuate the factory until all structural defects are assessed and repaired, the Accord said. Earlier, the Accord terminated business relations with two factories — Mega Chois Knitwear Ltd and Florence Fashions Ltd — due to their failure of temporarily evacuation of the units. Sadaf Fashions was inspected by the Accord for structural integrity on April 19, 2014 and the buyers’ group requested the government-set review panel for imposing corrective action plan as serious safety faults were found in the unit. The review panel asked the factory authorities to reduce load, remove a wall, empty an area of all load and dismantle a cantilever slab but the factory did not carry out the order, the Accord said. The refusal of Sadaf Fashions to implement the Accord’s requirements for continuation of production prompted the implementation of a notice and warning process in accordance with Article 21 of the Accord. According to the Accord article, each signatory company shall require that its suppliers in Bangladesh participate fully in the inspection, remediation, health and safety and, where applicable, training activities. If a supplier fails to do so, the signatory will promptly implement a notice and warning process leading to termination of the business relationship if these efforts do not succeed. Despite this notice and warning process, progress has not been achieved, the retailers’ group said. ‘The Accord, as of November 2, has therefore required the signatory companies using this factory to terminate their business relationship with this supplier and all factories it operates,’ the release said.
