Number of readymade garment factories in which global buyers cut business relations due to noncompliance reached to 55 with the recent suspension of 11 factories in Dhaka, Chittagong and Gazipur by the North American buyers’ group. The Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety has recently suspended 11 more factories from its supplier list on charge of failure to make adequate remediation progress. With the new 11 the total number of suspended factories by the Alliance reached to 42. On the other hand, the Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh, the European retailers’ group, terminated business relations with 13 factories. The recent 11 factories with which the Alliance has cut business relations are: Anzir Apparels Limited (Unit-1) and Samia Garments Ltd at Savar, Asif Apparels Ltd, Indigo Washing Ltd and Vintage Print & Arrow Labels at Gazipur, Elate Fashion Ltd, So Nice Garments (PVT) Ltd and Starlight Knitwear Ltd in the Dhaka city and Friends and Friends Apparels Ltd, Intex Link Garments (BD) Ltd and Valiant Garments at Chittagong. According to the Alliance announcement, the factories have failed to make adequate remediation progress and provide evidence of remediation. The platform said some of the factories failed to attend a remediation escalation roundtable and also failed to provide evidence to comply with the Alliance pre-approval process. The factories have been suspended from the Alliance compliant factory list because of their lack of progress in one or more Alliance programmes, thereby failing to make progress in ensuring a safe working environment, the platform said. ‘If suspended factories wish to re-establish participation in the Alliance process, they will need to undergo a new inspection at their own cost,’ Alliance said. After the Rana Plaza building collapse, which killed more than 1,100 people, mostly garment workers, in April 2013, North American retailers, including top brands Walmart and Gap, 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. During the inspection both the Alliance and the Accord found serious structural faults in 106 factories and sent the list of the units to the government-set review committee suggesting immediate evacuation. Out of 106 factories 35 were closed as per the recommendations from the experts of the review panel comprising representatives from the government, the Accord, the Alliance, the Bangladesh University of Engendering and Technology and the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association.
