Accord will stay in the country for six more months as the government confirmed it this week. The announcement was made at a joint press conference, on Thursday, organized by Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) and Accord at BGMEA office.
They said five years back on 15 May 2013, a group of global brands and retailers and two global unions and their national trade union affiliates signed an agreement to make garment factories in Bangladesh safe and the tenure of agreement exhausts this month.
As no local body is still formed to monitor the RMG sector and Accord’s remediation rate still remains at 85 percent, the government has formed a Transitional Monitoring Committee (TMC) to run the work of the extended six months.
BGMEA president Md. Siddiqur Rahman, while reading out the press release, said the government formed a Remediation Coordination Cell (RCC) under Inspection for Factories and Establishment Department which will take over the responsibility of monitoring from Accord after being fully organized and capable.
He said the government and entrepreneurs are working jointly for making the RCC active before the end of the extended six months.
Karl Gunnar Fagerlin, a member of Accord steering committee, said the TMC will start on 1 June and will run until they can achieve the full remediation.
Thirteen members of Accord steering committee and BGMEA leaders were present at the program among others.
