The government has taken an initiative to formulate the textile (industry registration) rules under the Textile Act 2018 in an effort to bring the country’s textile and clothing industries under the regulation of the Department of Textile. The textile and jute ministry has prepared a draft guideline for the registration of all types of clothing and textile factories and has sought recommendations from stakeholders on the draft. As per the draft, the apparel and textile industries would have to fulfil a number of criteria, including environmental and workplace related compliances, to obtain licence from the DoT. It said that the factories would have to submit updated versions of all the required documents, install fire extinguishers in premises while discharge of industrial wastage into rivers or other water bodies has been disallowed. The draft also said that factory authorities were not allowed to employ child workers and were required to provide for day care centres and maternity leaves with benefits to female workers to ensure a decent work environment. In order to obtain licence, establishments would have to harvest rain water to reduce the use of ground water, the draft added. The textile ministry sent the draft rule to the respective trade bodies on November 25 and will hold a meeting with the stakeholders on it on December 23. In the draft, the ministry has proposed a registration fee for the factories based on their investments. According to the draft, a licence fee of Tk 5,000 has been proposed for factories with investments of Tk 1-10 crore, Tk 10,000 for factories with investments of Tk 10-25 crore, Tk 25,000 for factories with investment of Tk 25-50 crore, Tk 50,000 for factories with investment Tk 50-100 crore and Tk 1,00,000 for factories with investments of above Tk 100 crore. DoT director general Dilip Kumar Saha told New Age on Thursday that the ministry had initiated the move as all textile and apparel companies were required to obtain registration with the department under the Textile Act 2018. He said that although the provision to become registered had been there for a long time, the formulation of the rule would ensure maintenance of regulation in all sub-sectors of the textile industries, including primary textile, readymade garment, allied textile, packaging and accessories manufacturers. According to the draft, entrepreneurs needed to file applications with the DoT along with the documents of the updated trade licence, income tax certificate, certificate of incorporation as limited company and bank solvency certificate, factory layout plan approved by the Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishments, fire licence and environmental clearance. After the application is filed, the registrar would issue an inspection order within three days following which the inspector would submit his report within 10 days. The registrar would issue a registration certificate to the entity a period of three years based on the eligibility criteria fulfilled during inspection, the draft said.
