Primark holds back new Accord signing, suppliers say no problem

A number of British brands are still pondering on signing up to a new agreement, the International Accord for Health and Safety in the Garment and Textile Industry, but their Bangladeshi suppliers think it does not make any difference whether anyone signs or not as they have their own platform to look after such issues.

On the other hand, expressing concerns, union leaders say buyers' reluctance to sign the deal will put workers' safety in factories under threat.

UK brands such as Primark, Next and JD Sports are yet to sign International Accord, while some others have backed it.

Primark said it intended to sign and was reviewing the legal documents. "We are pleased that the negotiations for the new accord have now concluded," it added, reports the Guardian.

Almost 80 companies, including Marks & Spencer, John Lewis, Asos, H&M, Zara's owner Inditex and New Look across the world, have backed the legally binding deal, which replaces one signed by more than 200 international fashion companies after the Rana Plaza factory collapse in 2013, killing more than 1,100 people, the Guardian report added.

Kutubuddin Ahmed, former president at the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), told The Business Standard on Thursday, "We have to ensure safety and compliance as per our country's law. So, it makes no difference whether any brand signs the agreement or not."

Brands have concerns about basic requirements such as infrastructural and fire safety that factories have already ensured such arrangements, the former BGMEA president said.

"Anyone who wants to come to Bangladesh to oversee factories must work under a single platform. We have already established the local entity RMG Sustainability Council (RSC) with an equal participation of brands, manufactures and trade unions," he added.

Shahidullah Azim, vice-president of the BGMEA, "Continuous price cuts using all possible tricks and tactics by the signatory brands and asking for more and more from Bangladesh factories no longer work as a pressure on us.

"As a matter of fact, nobody should be surprised if their best-performing suppliers decline to work with the brands signing additional useless agreements with anybody beyond the RSC, which is adopted by all parties such as the unions, brands and factory owners ensuring workers' best interests and wellbeing at best working environment, as we remain fully committed to the RSC."

Under the original agreement, the accord on fire and building safety in Bangladesh, brands and factories faced legal action if their health and safety standards were found lacking or if they did not address problems in an agreed time period.  More than 38,000 inspections have been carried out since 2013, and almost 200 factories have lost their contracts owing to poor safety standards.

That deal, which was agreed with two unions representing retail and garment factory workers, UNI Global and IndustriALL respectively, expired on Tuesday.

Christy Hoffman, general secretary of UNI Global Union, told The Guardian, "Today marks a significant step forward for workers in the global garment industry. In signing the international accord, brands and retailers shore up their commitment to factory safety in Bangladesh and also agree to establish badly needed enforceable and transparent health and safety programmes in at least one other garment-producing country.

"We are delighted that so many global retailers and brands have signed up to the international accord and, in doing so, are taking responsibility for garment worker safety in their supply chains. We look forward to welcoming more signatories to the international accord as soon as possible."

The new agreement, which is managed through the International Accord Foundation in the Netherlands, is valid until October 2023. Further brands are expected to sign up over the coming weeks and months.

Companies signing up commit to expanding general health and safety for workers beyond fire and building safety, human rights due diligence along supply chains, and making the same commitment to garment workers in at least one other country.

Signatories have agreed to meet in six months' time to discuss which countries, with the aim of making changes within two years.