Allow Accord to continue till RCC is ready: Compact

The Compact partners viz. the Government of Bangladesh, Government of Canada, Government of the US, the European Commission, and the International Labour Organization (ILO) met last month in Brussels, Belgium to discuss progress made under the Compact and what remains to be done. It was the 4^th time since the signing of the Compact in July 2013 that such assessment of progress took place.

At the meeting, the Compact partners acknowledged that some progress has been made since the last high level meeting held in Dhaka in May 2017. Progress on safety compliance was particularly noted. At the same time, it was widely acknowledged by different stakeholders and various representatives of the Compact partner governments that the Government of Bangladesh’ RCC is at its earliest stages of development, and that the Accord would need to continue its operations in Bangladesh until the RCC is deemed ready, Accord said in a statement.
 
“It is in the crucial interest of the signatories to the Accord that the work of remediation which started in May 2013 is completed and a sustainable and adequate national regulatory structure is implemented by the Bangladesh Government to regulate workplace safety in the Bangladeshi garment industry,” the statement said. “The premature shut down of the Accord; leaving workers in unsafe circumstances, would jeopardise the brands’ ability to source from a safe industry and may make them reconsider sourcing decisions and review the reputational risk of Bangladesh as a sourcing country.”
 
In the last 5 years, the Accord has delivered a robust, high quality, transparent, inclusive system, and it has made substantial progress to achieve the safety of workers in Bangladesh’s most important export industry. But the work is not yet completed and the national structure, notwithstanding assertions to the contrary, is not yet prepared to credibly take over the work of the Accord, the statement said. (RKS)
 

Fibre2Fashion News Desk – India