The garment makers want extension of the Accord’s tenure by three years to see through the factory remediation works that the international retailers’ agency set in motion but under certain conditions.The Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh is a five-year independent, legally binding agreement between 220 Europe-based retailers and brands, to ensure a safe garment industry in the country.The tenure of the platform, which is inspecting and renovating 1,600 factories, will expire in June 2018.One of the conditions for extension of the tenure is inclusion of representatives from the government, the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association, Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association, buyers, International Labour Organisation and labour federation in the steering committee of the Accord.Currently, none of the parties are represented in the steering committee of the Accord, the highest decision making body of the platform.However, representatives of some of those bodies have been put in the Accord advisory committee, which has no executive power.“We want a multi stakeholders’ platform for inspection of our factories. We do not want a unilateral inspection platform anymore,” said Mahmud Hasan Khan Babu, vice-president of the BGMEA.The Accord steering committee is yet to reply to the BGMEA on the matter.The BGMEA also wants the three inspection agencies — the Accord, Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety and the government’s own — to be merged into one platform for efficacy.Currently, all three agencies have been inspecting factories separately.The other conditions include: allowing for relocation of factories where remediation is not possible and trimming down the timeline of re-qualification from 24 months if business with any factory is severed for unsatisfactory workplace safety standards.The Accord factories should not be nominated by the lead buyer for inspection and businesses should be terminated with the factory building found risky and not with the companies, the BGMEA said.
