Western fashion retailers’ and buyers’ groups have cut business relations with eight more Bangladeshi supplier companies on charge of failure in implementing workplace safety programme in their manufacturing units. The Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh, the platform of EU brands and retailers, in a statement said that following the inspection for fire, electrical and structural safety seven supplier companies repeatedly failed to implement the corrective action plans provided by the retailers’ group.The suppliers companies are: Haesong Group at Kaliakair in Gazipur, Tuba Garments at Merul Badda in Dhaka, Rock Knitwears Ltd at Ashulia of Savar in Dhaka, Riverside Apparels in Chittagong, MS Attires Ltd at Fatullah in Narayanganj, Anam Garments and Ashulia Apparels at Mirpur in Dhaka. In the statement the Accord urged its signatory companies, which were using the factories, to terminate business relations with the seven suppliers and all factories they operate. With this announcement four factories of Haesong Group — Haesong Corporation Ltd, Haesong Corporation Ltd-2, Haesong Sweater Ltd and Haesong Knitwear Ltd — will be considered terminated factories. The Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety, another platform of North American buyers, on the other hand suspended Stylo Fashion Garments Ltd in Gazipur from its supplier list on charge of failure to provide evidence of remediation and to remove lockable exits. With the latest seven, the total number of RMG supplier companies with which EU buyers cut business relations in different times on workplace safety grounds reached to 54 while the number of Alliance-terminated factories reached to 107. Out of Alliance-suspended 107 factories, seven were listed for reactivation by the platform as the factory authorities relocated their units to new locations and participated with the Alliance programme. After the Rana Plaza building collapse, which killed more than 1,100 people, mostly garment workers, in April 2013, European retailers formed the Accord while North American retailers formed the Alliance undertaking a five-year plan which set timelines and accountability for safety inspections and training and workers’ empowerment programmes. The Accord has so far conducted initial inspections at 1600 factories while the Alliance inspected 759 factories.
