Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association is preparing a list of garment factories that are non-operational and existing only on paper as international buyers have been putting pressure to ensure an effective inspection system.
Following the tragic blaze in Tazreen Fashions on November 24 last year and the Rana Plaza collapse on April 24 that killed more than 1,200 garment workers, the pressure from international buyers have increased.
Recently North American and European retailers have taken initiatives to ensure safety standards in the readymade garment sector, suggesting the Bangladesh government should recruit 200 more factory inspectors.
BGMEA vice-president Shahidullah Azim told New Age that they had been assessing the number of non-operational factories as the ministerial committee on social compliance had been repeatedly asking them to submit the list of operational factories.
He said the number of BGMEA member factories was 5,400 but a large number of factories had been remaining non-operational for long.
The number of operational factories are nearly 3,600 and 2,000 of them are doing export directly while the rest are doing sub-contracting, Azim said.
He also said that about 1800 member factories were now out of operation and some of them were existing only on paper but have no physical presence.
‘We are yet to take any decision to cancel the BGMEA membership of those non-operational factories but we will provide the list to the government for further initiative,’ Azim said.
He also said that the government might set a policy for non-operational factories and the BGMEA would not take the responsibility of the fate of the factories that exist only on paper.
The BGMEA has formed a committee headed by its first vice-president Nasiruddin Ahmed Chowdhury to assess the actual situation and the committee has started its operation, Azim added.
However, Nasiruddin said that it would not possible to converse in details about the activities of the committee as it was very much confidential for the trade body.
‘We are reviewing the merits and demerits of having non-operational factories in the BGMEA,’ he said.
-With New Age input
