The US ambassador to Bangladesh Dan W Mozena on Tuesday urged the garment factory owners not to compromise with the international safety standard and not to go back to business as usual to avoid further industrial disasters. In the launching ceremony of a documentary on readymade garment sector and workers in Dhaka, Mozena said that Bangladesh would have to choose and follow the path to transform the apparel sector and bring it to match international safety and labour standards.
‘Early this month, for example, in a meeting with government officials some factory owners made clear their opposition to bringing their factories to international standards for workers safety and labour rights, claiming these standards are too high,’ Mozena said.
‘To me, the unstated, but clear message from these owners was that since orders keep coming, since profits keep mounting, why should I incur additional costs in meeting these higher standards,’ he said.
Mozena’s comments came following media reports that garment sector leaders are concerned over the imposition of new conditions on factory inspection standards by the EU and North American retailers’ groups bypassing the decision of the National Tripartite Committee.
Earlier, the two platforms of EU Accord and North American Alliance agreed to adopt a harmonised set of standards in line with the National Action Plan, but latter they included some new provisions in their drafts which will create complexity in the sector, they said.
The garment manufacturers urged the government to take steps so that the retailers’ group make their inspection standards flexible in line with National Action Plan, set by the NTC, which included representatives of government, factory owners and worker groups, with the help of International Labour Organisation.
The US ambassador
feared that some owners want to go back to business as usual and ‘business as usual’ is a recipe for more Tazreen Fashions and Rana Plaza tragedies, which will destroy prospects for Bangladesh’s apparel sector in the global marketplace.
He, however, hoped that the apparel sector will choose a path that makes Brand Bangladesh a preferred brand, a brand that buyers and consumers want to buy, a brand that leads Bangladesh to becoming the largest exporter of apparel in the world, replacing China.
Mujibul Haque, state minister for labour and employment, said that the government has taken a good number of initiatives to ensure safety and security in the garment sector as per the requirements of international community.
He said that most of the conditions of GSP restoration action plan have been fulfilled and now the government is working to set up a publicly accessible database.
Policy Research Institute executive director Ahsan H Mansur, director general of Fire Service and Civil Defiance Ali Ahmed Khan, Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association vice-president Reaz-Bin-Mahmood, among others, attended the function.
-With New Age input
