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Integrity, ethics key to RMG sector sustainability: TIB

Staff Correspondent
26 Apr 2023 00:00:00 | Update: 26 Apr 2023 01:12:25
Integrity, ethics key to RMG sector sustainability: TIB

On the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the Rana Plaza tragedy, Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) has called upon international brands and buyers of Bangladeshi readymade garments (RMG) to conduct business with integrity, espe-cially ethical sourcing, which are the key to the sustainability of the sector.

“Exploitative practices of some brands and buyers motivated by short-term profitability at the expense of business integrity together with the continued failure of relevant authorities to ensure accountability and workers’ rights-sensitive govern-ance pose the most formidable challenges of sustainability of the industry,” TIB said in a statement issued on Tuesday.

TIB recalled that on April 24, 2013, the collapse of Rana Plaza in Bangladesh resulted in one of the deadliest industrial disas-ters in history, claiming the lives of over 1,100 workers and leaving more than 2,500 others injured.

The tragedy exposed a range of governance deficiencies, including poor and non-compliant structural and working condi-tions, inadequate safety standards, denial of labour rights, deficits and violations of labour laws and regulations, and envi-ronmental sustainability standards in the country’s ready-made garment (RMG) industry.

Following this devastating event, national and international stakeholders joined hands to contribute to improving govern-ance and safety standards in Bangladesh’s RMG sector.

The statement noted that significant progress has indeed been made in the industry over the past 10 years, particularly in regard to structural and fire safety.

Bangladesh now boasts hosting half of the world’s top 100 LEED-certified green industrial units, with 187 LEED-certified green factories in operation - all but four of which are in the garment sector.

Another 500 RMG factories are in the process of obtaining LEED certification. Moreover, the reduction of workplace acci-dents in the export-oriented RMG units is considered to be the result of the targeted structural, fire and electrical safety inspection and follow-up remediation measures.

However, despite such progresses the profit-obsessed RMG industry continues to face the main challenge of transitioning to a workers’ rights-sensitive business model, leaving the key concerns of the RMG workers who are the main factor of profitability and sustainability of the industry at bay, it said.

Practically nothing has happened in ten years to ensure accountability of those responsible for the tragedy and the facilita-tors and protectors of non-compliance.

Victims of the Rana Plaza disaster and other tragic accidents and their families have been treated more with a charitable approach at best rather than the right to compensation principle.

COVID-19-induced supply chain disruption shifted the focus of stakeholders to the protection of the interests of brands and buyers on the one hand and producers and exporters on the other ignoring the fundamental rights of workers.

Moreover, the package of Covid response for the sector represented a policy priority targeted to producers and exporters leaving the workers’ plight outside the mainstream strategic consideration.

In the meantime, compliance with Accord-designed safety standards is now overseen by the Remediation Sustainability Council (RSC), which follows a problem-solving mechanism without much discretion.

On the other hand, the Remediation Coordination Council (RCC), has handed over all responsibilities to the Industrial Safety Unit (ISU) of the Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishments (DIFE), following which inspections have de-creased by half in the last fiscal year, while the quality of inspections remains questionable due to alleged corruption.

Bribing compliance auditors to overlook non-compliance issues and ignoring important concerns worsens the situation. Unreasonable price reductions, delaying deliveries, withholding payments, cancelling bookings, and other unpredictabilities of international buyers have become normal in the sector since Covid-19.

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