The Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh — the Accord, which is an independent agreement designed to make all garment factories in Bangladesh safe workplaces was signed on 15 May 2013 — coming to an end, only two clothing retailers, namely the German brand Tchibo and the British brand ASOS Ltd., have, reportedly, agreed to renew the contract so far. As per reports, the current contract, known as the Transition Accord — this agreement is, reportedly, a continuation of the 2013 Accord, signed by global unions and brands on 15 May 2013 and expired on 31 May 2018 — is expiring at the end of the set time frame (1 June 2018-31 May 2021). Media reports maintained the agreement formulated just weeks after the collapse of Rana Plaza in 2013 acts as a binding safety programme, where signatories can only source from the Accord-certified factories and failing to do so could subject them to litigation while adding that some of the signatories of the same were the biggest retailers like adidas, Primark, Tesco, American Eagle Outfitters, H&M, Benetton, Marks & Spencer, Inditex and Loblaw. It may be mentioned here that of late, global unions have been maintaining that without Accord, nothing can legally stop brands from buying from suppliers who are not compliant — one of the Accord’s main jobs was to inspect factories and make them structurally safe and compliant as per international standards — even as according to the Clean Clothes Campaign (CCC), the Accord has been working with over 1,600 factories, but the database shows that not all have completed the steps needed to make them 100 per cent compliant. Meanwhile, media reports citing sources at the bodies related to the Accord underlined they were being obliged to extend the contract by three months further so as to give more time for the retailers to join. It may be mentioned here that the RMG Sustainability Council or RSC on 1 June 2020, took over the Accord in Bangladesh with the mandate to continue with factory inspections, remediation monitoring and workplace programmes.
