Close on heels of the Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh, signed on 15 May 2013 and supposed to end on 31 May, got a three-month extension after the parties involved in a last-minute move reached a tentative deal to extend it by three months, the witness signatories to the Accord have issued a statement.
As per the statement issued by the Clean Clothes Campaign (CCC), the witness signatories to the Accord, namely the Maquila Solidarity Network, CCC, and Worker Rights Consortium and International Labor Rights Forum/Global Labor Justice, have welcomed the fact that the extension will continue to bind the Accord member brands to the same obligations as under the current Accord.
However, underlining that the extension is no more than a respite that maintains the status quo, the statement underlined if the signatory brands agree to a new binding safety agreement which will ensure the safety work in Bangladesh remains individually enforceable upon brands while also keep an independent secretariat in place that oversees the brands’ compliance, and allows for expansion to other countries?
It further added that the brief extension of the Accord was needed because of what it claimed the negotiating brands’ reluctance to make good on their commitment made in January 2020, to negotiate a new binding agreement with the option to expand to other countries even as the President of the Bangladesh Garment and Industrial Workers Federation and founder of the Bangladesh Centre for Worker Solidarity, Kalpona Akter, on her part maintained that the RMG Sustainability Council does not have the power to hold retailers and brands accountable to their promises while adding that only an international legally binding agreement will ensure the same.