End consumers should be made aware to pay adequate price

We the manufacturers are prioritising the reduction of carbon & water footprint and working towards establishing a sustainable fashion industry. For this, we must work with all stakeholders including suppliers, manufactures, buyers, retailers and most importantly end consumers.

All countries, whether developing or developed, are working towards reducing carbon emission. The European Union has adopted a framework with a set of regulations aimed at protecting the environment. The EU move, which has the objective to make the region carbon-neutral by 2050, is definitely a good one. We appreciate this.

However, as manufacturers, we want to meet their requirements and produce products for the EU region, which is a massive market for us. We also have to secure several certifications and follow certain standards, laid out by the western buyers.

When we are obligated to meet these prerequisites, we have to bring in new technologies and protocols, which pushes the production cost up. But, the buyers or retailers are not willing to pay the additional cost, for which we need to bargain with them.

While all retailers and developed countries appreciate Bangladesh's progress towards a green and sustainable industry, they are not willing to pay the appropriate price for sustainable products.

We understand that the mind-sets of the western consumers have not grown yet to pay the right price for sustainable products. We think the retailers need to take responsibility to create awareness among their consumers. At the same time, it is also the responsibility of the EU and developed countries to educate their people about contributing to sustainability and the cost of sustainable products.

If the EU set the zero-carbon target, that will be applicable for all manufactures. It will not be a problem for the Bangladeshi manufacturers, as the buyers will then pay the additional cost.

While they are drawing up such regulations, they must not also allow non-compliant products to enter their market. If they allow both the sustainable products and non-compliant products at the same time, it will not be justified.

If the regulations are meant for some manufacturers and buyers, we will have to compete in an unfair field.

We are taking steps from the International Apparel Federation (IAF) platform to take these issues to the governments and retailers.

The western retailers give extra emphasis when it comes to Bangladesh. You know the amount of work we have done on our safety; they have not done the same on safety even after fatal accidents in other countries.

It can be seen that many times they impose various audit forms on our country, but they cannot impose the same in China or in Vietnam.

When it becomes law in the European Union, it will be applicable to everyone. It will then actually create a good situation for us.

The IAF and the ITMF (International Textile Manufacturers Federation) are working jointly on audit fatigue. We have to do a number of audits at the request of different buyers. Almost 99% of the time, the auditors ask us the same questions and come up with the same result. So, we are working with the Sustainable Purchasing Leadership Council to reduce audits. We want one standardised audit report to be used by different buyers.

Aside from this, the IAF is also conducting research on garments markets the world over. We want to gauge whether the price given by buyers is ethical or not.

As we move towards sustainable and green factories, I think those should also be prioritised and valued by buyers. We work with environmental concerns and we are making environmentally-friendly garments as well. But we need the help of the buyers in this regard.

If they don't move towards sustainable garments – which use less water and cause less environmental damage – then we can't really get out of this. We want buyers to look at these areas.

We want buyers and their designers to take these into consideration. The three things for the garments are reuse, reduce and recycle. Doing these in the production process, may mean that the garment may not appear as they used to before. The quality is there, but for such practices to take off, some compromises have to be made. Buyers must work on shaping the consumer mindset for this.

Fazlee Shamim Ehsan is Vice-president, BKMEA and Director, IAF