The Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) has initiated a move to bring its member factories, mainly those that remained outside the purview of Accord, under the inspection programme of RSC (Readymade garment Sustainability Council).
At present, 1200 RMG factories, mostly inspected for fire, electrical and structural integrity under the EU-led brands and retailers' platform Accord, were being overseen by the RSC, sources said.
After expiry of the Accord in Bangladesh, the RSC was formed in June, 2020 that took over the charge of the Accord's works in the country, they added.
The RSC has 18 members - six each from brands (Accord signatories), apparel exporters and labour leaders.
When asked, BGMEA vice president Miran Ali said: "The BGMEA member factories that want to do business with RSC brand have requested to get audited by RSC."
Previously, the brands used to nominate the factories to be included or inspected by RSC and they (brands) paid the audit charges, he said, adding that now the interested individual factories will have to bear the cost of inspection.
"The inspection cost is not that much significant, rather would be reasonable and would be a win-win situation for them," he added.
The RSC certification is not limited to one buyer as all the RSC brands and many other non-RSC brands are accepting the recognition, Mr Ali added.
The factories were accepting work orders at relatively lower prices to get business from the RSC brands, he said, expecting that the local suppliers now would get better prices once they are listed with the RSC brands.
After the Rana Plaza building collapse in 2013, two platforms - Accord and Alliance -were formed to assess the fire, electrical and structural safety of local RMG factories.
Some 1600 and 600 garment factories were inspected by Accord and Alliance respectively while another 1500 were assessed by a joint government and ILO inspection programme, according to industry people.
After completion, Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety, the platform of North American fashion brands and retailers, closed its office in Dhaka on December 31 in 2018, they said.
Though majority of the corrective works have been done in Accord and Alliance listed factories, the progress is still poor in factories inspected by the national initiative, they added.
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