The Bangladesh Government recently formed a working committee to reportedly finalize a time bound exit and transition plan for European buyers’ body Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh for handing over the responsibilities to a national body, claimed media reports.
As per the report, a senior Government official reportedly said that the Supreme Court has allowed Accord to stay up to February 18 this year in Bangladesh and hopefully the working committee would be able to prepare a transition plan for the platform by that time.
It may be mentioned here that the committee headed by a Labour Ministry Additional Secretary and comprised of representatives of Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishments (DIFE), Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) and Accord signatories are expected to hold its first meeting on January 28.
In September, last year the Accord had submitted a transition plan involving six phases without setting any time frame to wind up its operations from the country. However, the Bangladesh Government has reportedly asked the Accord to submit a time-bound plan as the tenure of the platform ended in May, 2018. The government though allowed it a six-month transition period that expired in November last year.