The much-hyped exercise by Accord and Alliance to ensure safe and secure garment manufacturing in factories in Bangladesh readymade garment sector came in for flak again amidst charges of duplication in follow-up inspections of those factories which produce for the both, owing to lack of consensus between the auditing entities, alleged factory owners. The owners of garment manufacturing units further observed that they have requested the retailers’ groups to accept one another’s certification on remediation verification inspections keeping in tune with the initial inspection process as safety assessment and remediation are being carried out under ‘a harmonised standard’. Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety is the platform of North American apparel buyers and apparel retailers while Accord represents apparel buyers from EU.
Also Read – Bangladesh’s RMG sector is a victim of international conspiracy, says Industries Minister
The President of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) Siddiqur Rahman, while speaking to the media said, “We have requested the National Tripartite Committee to discuss the issue on its next meeting as the duplication in follow-up inspections is a big hassle for the factory owners and the process is creating some confusion.”
Meanwhile, Alliance office bearers have also reportedly admitted to the fact that duplication in remediation verification visit at common factories in the Bangladesh readymade garment sector had indeed taken place, and it was possible to avoid the same through forming an inspection team comprising engineers from both initiatives to conduct follow-up inspections in the common factories involved in readymade garment manufacturing. They further underlined duplication in follow-up inspections has already taken place in 130 common factories and if the two platforms fail to reach a consensus, the overlap will occur in all 300 common factories involved in readymade garment manufacturing. However, officials from Accord preferring to downplay the allegations, observed both Accord and Alliance will do follow-up inspections in joint factories of Bangladesh garment sector and that there is no confusion or hassle for the factories as such.
Also Read – Bangladesh RMG sector has bright future, says German official
In the backdrop of these serious allegations, BGMEA has reportedly written a letter to the buyers’ group requesting them to avoid duplication in follow-up inspections. In the letter, BGMEA said that the duplication in remediation verification visits put the concerned factories involved in readymade garments manufacturing under pressure as they were required to face inspection teams of both the Accord and the Alliance. BGMEA’s letter further went on to highlight that the visits of two platforms often put forward conflicting views and created unforeseen obstacles in the planned implementation of the corrective road map for the factories involved in garment manufacturing in Bangladesh.
Bharat Tex Special Report 2026 
