The North American retailers’ group has omitted 17 more readymade garment factories of Bangladesh from its supplier list either on charge of failure to make adequate remediation progress or closure or relocation of some unites. Number of readymade garment factories with which the Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety, the platform of the North American brands, cut business relations due to noncompliance reached to 59. The total number of RMG factories in which global buyers cut business relations reached to 72 with 13 factories terminated by the European retailers’ group — Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh. Leaders of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association are likely to sit with the Alliance on April 4 to discuss inspection-relates issues including escalation process. According to an Alliance announcement, the recent 17 factories have been suspended from its supplier list due to their failure to comply with review panel’s recommendations, closure or relocation and unethical behaviour by factory management. The 17 factories are: Beaumonde Apparels Ltd, Campex (BD) Ltd, Hi-Tech Fashions Ltd, Maestro 5, Shehan Specialized Textile Mills Ltd, Smart Jacket (BD) Limited, Smart Jeans Ltd, Valiant Fashion Wear Limited and Anowara Apparels, Vanguard Fashions Ltd and Vanguard Garments Ltd in Chittagong, CDF Designs Ltd, M&M Shirts Limited, Nimmi Apparels and Tivoli Apparel Ltd and Dishang Sweater Ltd, Le Nouveautex Knit Fashion and Ratool Apparels Ltd in Gazipur. BGMEA vice-president Mahmud Hassan Babu told New Age that the announcement of business termination by the retailers’ groups might affect the business of the factories with others. The factories suspended by the retailers’ groups are doing business with a number of buyers who are not the signatory of the Accord or the Alliance, he said. ‘We are going to sit with the Alliance to discuss more or less eight issues including business termination issue as the announcement influences other buyers who are not included with the retailers’ groups,’ Babu said. After the Rana Plaza building collapse, which killed ore than 1,100 people, mostly garment workers, in April 2013, North American retailers formed the Alliance and European retailers formed the Accord undertaking a five-year plan which set timelines and accountability for inspections and training and workers’ empowerment programmes. The Alliance has so far inspected 870 factories while the Accord inspected more than 1,600 factories.
