Along with leading brands like H&M and Inditex, which owns Zara and Bershka, the new agreement has also been signed by global unions including IndustriALL and UNI Global Union.
Written by Sanskriti Falor , Edited by Explained Desk | New Delhi |
Updated: August 29, 2021
The accord made it mandatory for brands to set basic standards of workplace, minimum wages, independent factory inspections, public reports on the factories, constant repairs and renovations. (AP)
Leading global retailers have agreed to extend a health and safety agreement with garment workers and factory owners in Bangladesh. The International Accord for Health and Safety in the Textile and Garment Industry – a legally-binding pact – comes into effect from September 1, and will be valid for two years.
Along with leading brands like H&M and Inditex, which owns Zara and Bershka, the new agreement has also been signed by global unions including IndustriALL and UNI Global Union.
What was the previous accord?
The pre-existing Accord on Fire and Building Safety had come into effect in the aftermath of the collapse of the eight-story Raza Plaza complex in Savar near Dhaka that killed more than 1,100 people.
Put in place by IndustriALL, UNI and 17 textile and garment brands, the accord was the first legally binding agreement that was brought in to ensure and improve the safety of workers. More than 200 companies had signed the agreement.
Brands like Primark and Mango used the factories in the building and were called out to look into the highly unsafe factory conditions that Bangladesh workers had been working in.
The accord made it mandatory for brands to set basic standards of workplace, minimum wages, independent factory inspections, public reports on the factories, constant repairs and renovations.
The 2013 Accord specifically focused on fire, electrical and building safety hazards.
The agreement signatories decided to continue the 2013 Accord for three more years in 2018, until May 31, 2021. It was further extended for three more months until August 31, 2021.
The 2018 accord involved brands to conduct independent safety inspections, remediation programmes, establish safety committees and safety training programmes, disclosure of inspections reports, setting up complaints mechanisms, safely implement the right to refuse unsafe work and take corrective actions plans.
What is the new health and safety accord?
The new agreement is being managed by the Ready-Made Garments Sustainability Council (RSC). According to the International Labour Organisation (ILO), the ready-made garment sector accounts for 80 per cent of Bangladesh’s export earnings and employs about 4.2 million people. ILO’s 2017 report stated, “It is estimated that over 11,000 workers suffer fatal accidents and a further 24,500 die from work related diseases across all sectors each year in Bangladesh. It is also estimated that a further 8 million workers suffer injuries at work – many of which result in permanent disability.”
IndustriALL Global Union general secretary, Valter Sanches, said the new agreement is an important victory towards making the textile and garment industry safe and sustainable. “The agreement maintains the legally binding provision for companies and most importantly the scope has been expanded to other countries and other provisions, encompassing general health and safety,” said Sanches.
According to the official website of The Accord on Fire and Building Safety, the new agreement maintains the essence of the earlier accord and includes, “respect for freedom of association, independent administration and implementation, a high-level of transparency, provisions to ensure remediation is financially feasible, safety committee training and worker awareness program, and a credible, independent complaints mechanism.”
Instead of specifically focusing on fire and building safety, the agreement broadens its scope of covering general health and safety, according to a report by IndustriALL. It will work towards expanding the scope of the agreement in order to address “human rights due diligence along the brands’ global supply chains”.
The new accord will also set in place an optional arbitration process to implement its terms in a streamlined manner, stated the report.
Christy Hoffman, General Secretary of UNI Global Union, said, “With its accountability, transparency, and legally binding commitments, the International Accord is an example of what modern due diligence should look like in Bangladesh and beyond. It also recognizes that the work in Bangladesh’s garment industry is not done, and this agreement helps strengthen the RSC and deepen brands’ commitments to the people who manufacture their products.”
What is the Ready-Made Garments Sustainability Council (RSC)?
Ready-Made Garments Sustainability Council (RSC) was formed in 2019 by Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA).
RSC was handed over the responsibility of looking after the implementation of the 2018 Accord.
RSC was set in place to ease the functioning of businesses under the Accord and to look after the implementation of the Accord in a more streamlined manner.
President of BGMEA, Rubana Huq had told Reuters, “The RSC is an unprecedented national initiative, uniting industry, brands and trade unions to ensure a sustainable solution to carry forward the significant accomplishments made on workplace safety in Bangladesh.”
RSC was also set up to work towards encompassing “industrial relations, skill development and environmental standards”, Huq added
Int'l Accord separate from RMG Sustainability Council: BGMEA
Star Business Report
Sun Aug 29, 2021
Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) has said that the recently signed International Accord for Health and Safety in the Textile and Garment Industry is separate from RMG Sustainability Council (RSC).
The trade body of apparel makers said the former Bangladesh Accord Foundation and the recently signed contract for new international platform for health and safety in the textile and garment industry will not have any function directly or indirectly without permission from the government.
They claimed that the International Accord agreement being implemented in Bangladesh by the independent national tripartite RSC is misleading, the BGMEA said in the statement.
The board of the RSC is only accountable to its stakeholders and works through a unique consensual decision making process, whereby no two groups may influence operations.
The International Labour Organisation and the European Union, being key development partners to Bangladesh, have lent their endorsement to the RSC from its very inception.
A European retailer in Bangladesh requesting anonymity said the recently formed International Accord in Bangladesh does not have any function. It has been formed for other countries, he said.
He also said the RSC and the International Accord are two separate entities.
The RSC was formed as an independent non-profit company, licensed by the government to take over the Bangladesh operations of the Accord and as such, the Accord functions in Bangladesh ceased to exist as of 31 May 2020.
The RSC has taken over the monitoring regime as of 1st June 2020 bringing the Bangladesh RMG safety monitoring regimes under one umbrella.
Apparel makers have qualms about Accord extension
BGMEA says Accord cannot work in Bangladesh without government permission
File Photo: Mumit M
The announcement to extend Accord – a legally binding pact set up in 2013 to ensure the safety of Bangladeshi garment factory workers but has been out of the limelight for more than a year – by two years has created discomfort among apparel exporters in the country.
The new agreement called the International Accord for Health and Safety in the Textile and Garment Industry will be officially signed between the brands and international labour organisations on Wednesday (1 September). But, factory owners have already started asking each other as to how the new Accord will work and what kinds of new pressures may come on them.
Labour leaders associated with the Accord, however, have expressed their satisfaction with the new initiative.
The issue came up for discussion at the board meeting of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) last Saturday. At the meeting, factory owners expressed their confusion and discomfort and urged the BGMEA to send a clear message to its members. Following that, the BGMEA issued a press release on Sunday.
The press release, signed by BGMEA President Faruque Hassan, said the Accord or any other body could not operate in Bangladesh without the approval of the government. In addition, no organisation but the RMG Sustainability Council (RSC) has the legal authority to operate in the country to oversee the safety issues in apparel factories.
A director of the BGMEA, on condition of anonymity, told The Business Standard that brands and labour organisations have the whole work of extending the Accord secretly. "They will work with garment owners, but the BGMEA does not know anything about their activities."
"In the absence of the Accord, the RSC was doing well. Amid this situation, the sudden announcement to extend the Accord has created panic among garment factory owners. They have become perplexed again as the Accord caused a lot of difficulties for them."
"Their [Accord] recommendation for safety gears used to have strings attached, like the purchase must be from a specific firm. The specified company would charge us double than the market rates. And alone our purchases made those firms established," said the apparel makers' leader.
With a coalition of 228 foreign brands and buyers, the Accord on fire and building safety in Bangladesh – also went by Bangladesh Accord – was formed in 2013 followed by the Rana Plaza garment factory collapse. It had supervised the structure of Bangladesh's apparel sector, fire and power safety issues for six and a half years with a five-year monitoring contract.
During the supervision, Accord developed several disagreements with factory owners and the government.
Accord handed over its tasks to RSC as it was formed last year. However, RSC has been running with Accord's policy, logistics and manpower.
International labour organisations, meanwhile, had been expressing concern over labour issues with the absence of Accord. Factory owners, however, seemingly did not expect Accord return after accumulating more power.
Two local labour leaders who are privy with the formation of the new Accord said the new Accord will work with issues such as human rights, health and freedom of labour association. Previous factory monitoring would be limited to worker safety.
Expressing satisfaction over the new Accord, local labour leader Babul Akhter said they are very happy since now there will be scopes for getting justice if an apparel worker is persecuted.
"Already 231 brands and buyers have signed the pact and more are in the pipeline," he noted.
In conditions of anonymity, another labour leader said, "BGMEA is kind of opposing the reality."
Khandoker Golam Moazzem, research director at the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) and an expert with a long time research experience on the country's readymade garment sector, said Accord actually is one of the stakeholders of incumbent RSC.
"Accord set to expire in August. Without an extension, it could not even be with the RSC," he added.
Despite Accord's extension, Golam Moazzem believes RSC should look after the apparel issues in Bangladesh. "If RSC wanted to add new issues to the jurisdiction, it could have talked to the ministries," he noted.
Established in 2013, Accord had 1,500 factories under its supervision as the US buyer-formed Alliance for Bangladesh Workers Safety oversaw another 600 apparel units. Later, Nirapon replaced the US supervisor.
Apart from the foreign initiatives, the labour ministry's National Initiative looks after around 750 factories.
BGMEA says Accord cannot work in Bangladesh without government permission
File Photo: Mumit M
The announcement to extend Accord – a legally binding pact set up in 2013 to ensure the safety of Bangladeshi garment factory workers but has been out of the limelight for more than a year – by two years has created discomfort among apparel exporters in the country.
The new agreement called the International Accord for Health and Safety in the Textile and Garment Industry will be officially signed between the brands and international labour organisations on Wednesday (1 September). But, factory owners have already started asking each other as to how the new Accord will work and what kinds of new pressures may come on them.
Labour leaders associated with the Accord, however, have expressed their satisfaction with the new initiative.
The issue came up for discussion at the board meeting of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) last Saturday. At the meeting, factory owners expressed their confusion and discomfort and urged the BGMEA to send a clear message to its members. Following that, the BGMEA issued a press release on Sunday.
The press release, signed by BGMEA President Faruque Hassan, said the Accord or any other body could not operate in Bangladesh without the approval of the government. In addition, no organisation but the RMG Sustainability Council (RSC) has the legal authority to operate in the country to oversee the safety issues in apparel factories.
A director of the BGMEA, on condition of anonymity, told The Business Standard that brands and labour organisations have the whole work of extending the Accord secretly. "They will work with garment owners, but the BGMEA does not know anything about their activities."
"In the absence of the Accord, the RSC was doing well. Amid this situation, the sudden announcement to extend the Accord has created panic among garment factory owners. They have become perplexed again as the Accord caused a lot of difficulties for them."
"Their [Accord] recommendation for safety gears used to have strings attached, like the purchase must be from a specific firm. The specified company would charge us double than the market rates. And alone our purchases made those firms established," said the apparel makers' leader.
With a coalition of 228 foreign brands and buyers, the Accord on fire and building safety in Bangladesh – also went by Bangladesh Accord – was formed in 2013 followed by the Rana Plaza garment factory collapse. It had supervised the structure of Bangladesh's apparel sector, fire and power safety issues for six and a half years with a five-year monitoring contract.
During the supervision, Accord developed several disagreements with factory owners and the government.
Accord handed over its tasks to RSC as it was formed last year. However, RSC has been running with Accord's policy, logistics and manpower.
International labour organisations, meanwhile, had been expressing concern over labour issues with the absence of Accord. Factory owners, however, seemingly did not expect Accord return after accumulating more power.
Two local labour leaders who are privy with the formation of the new Accord said the new Accord will work with issues such as human rights, health and freedom of labour association. Previous factory monitoring would be limited to worker safety.
Expressing satisfaction over the new Accord, local labour leader Babul Akhter said they are very happy since now there will be scopes for getting justice if an apparel worker is persecuted.
"Already 231 brands and buyers have signed the pact and more are in the pipeline," he noted.
In conditions of anonymity, another labour leader said, "BGMEA is kind of opposing the reality."
Khandoker Golam Moazzem, research director at the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) and an expert with a long time research experience on the country's readymade garment sector, said Accord actually is one of the stakeholders of incumbent RSC.
"Accord set to expire in August. Without an extension, it could not even be with the RSC," he added.
Despite Accord's extension, Golam Moazzem believes RSC should look after the apparel issues in Bangladesh. "If RSC wanted to add new issues to the jurisdiction, it could have talked to the ministries," he noted.
Established in 2013, Accord had 1,500 factories under its supervision as the US buyer-formed Alliance for Bangladesh Workers Safety oversaw another 600 apparel units. Later, Nirapon replaced the US supervisor.
Apart from the foreign initiatives, the labour ministry's National Initiative looks after around 750 factories.
GFF to invest $10m in RMG factories
FE REPORT | Published: August 29, 2021
FE REPORT | Published: August 29, 2021
Garment workers returning home during the lunch break in Mirpur's Darussalam area of the city on Saturday, but nobody cares about Covid-19 health safety norms — FE photo
Global Fashion Fund (GFF) will initially invest US$10 million to finance local readymade garment (RMG) factories, especially small and medium enterprises (SMEs), to ensure sustainable production.
To this effect, Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) and GFF on August 25 signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) aiming to support and strengthen the development and uptake of innovative sustainability solutions and particularly to improve environmental and social sustainability of the local factories, according to a statement.
BGMEA president Faruque Hassan and GFF Fund Director Bob Assenberg signed the MoU at a virtual ceremony on behalf of their respective organisations.
GFF will provide a long-term loan in addition to technical, environmental and social assistances to the manufacturers to ensure sustainable production, it added.
Launched by Laudes Foundation and Fashion for Good in 2019, Good Fashion Fund (www.goodfashionfund.com) is managed by Fund Manger FOUNT.
Through the joint efforts, GFF aims to invest US$ 10 million in readymade garment manufacturing companies in Bangladesh in the next two years out of its total targeted fund worth US$25 million.
The collaboration aims at giving the manufacturers an access to finance and help them in building a restorative and regenerative apparel supply chain that include the use of recyclable and safe materials, clean and less energy, closed-loop manufacturing and the creation of fair jobs and growth.
Talking at the event, BGMEA President Faruque Hassan said energy efficiency, renewable energy, carbon and water footprint reduction and circular economy have been the core areas of concern for BGMEA as long as sustainability and resilience are concerned.
So SMEs will have to invest in eco-friendly technologies, he added.
Expressing gratitude, he said the collaboration of the two organisations can be prolific to enhance the sustainability standard of the SMEs.
Mr Bob Assenberg said, "We are very excited about partnering with BGMEA and our joint support to apparel manufacturers in Bangladesh will become more sustainable."
They are committed to driving a positive change and good fashion practice in the apparel sector in Bangladesh and look forward to working with forward-looking SMEs in the country, he noted.
Explaining GFF vision, he said it aimed to invest in innovations that deliver both economic growth and good fashion practice for manufactures.
munni_fe@yahoo.com
Global Fashion Fund (GFF) will initially invest US$10 million to finance local readymade garment (RMG) factories, especially small and medium enterprises (SMEs), to ensure sustainable production.
To this effect, Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) and GFF on August 25 signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) aiming to support and strengthen the development and uptake of innovative sustainability solutions and particularly to improve environmental and social sustainability of the local factories, according to a statement.
BGMEA president Faruque Hassan and GFF Fund Director Bob Assenberg signed the MoU at a virtual ceremony on behalf of their respective organisations.
GFF will provide a long-term loan in addition to technical, environmental and social assistances to the manufacturers to ensure sustainable production, it added.
Launched by Laudes Foundation and Fashion for Good in 2019, Good Fashion Fund (www.goodfashionfund.com) is managed by Fund Manger FOUNT.
Through the joint efforts, GFF aims to invest US$ 10 million in readymade garment manufacturing companies in Bangladesh in the next two years out of its total targeted fund worth US$25 million.
The collaboration aims at giving the manufacturers an access to finance and help them in building a restorative and regenerative apparel supply chain that include the use of recyclable and safe materials, clean and less energy, closed-loop manufacturing and the creation of fair jobs and growth.
Talking at the event, BGMEA President Faruque Hassan said energy efficiency, renewable energy, carbon and water footprint reduction and circular economy have been the core areas of concern for BGMEA as long as sustainability and resilience are concerned.
So SMEs will have to invest in eco-friendly technologies, he added.
Expressing gratitude, he said the collaboration of the two organisations can be prolific to enhance the sustainability standard of the SMEs.
Mr Bob Assenberg said, "We are very excited about partnering with BGMEA and our joint support to apparel manufacturers in Bangladesh will become more sustainable."
They are committed to driving a positive change and good fashion practice in the apparel sector in Bangladesh and look forward to working with forward-looking SMEs in the country, he noted.
Explaining GFF vision, he said it aimed to invest in innovations that deliver both economic growth and good fashion practice for manufactures.
munni_fe@yahoo.com
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