Heads of missions of several western countries, which signed Bangladesh Sustainable Compact, again requested the government to take necessary steps for extending the tenure of Accord, officials have said.
Following a High Court order, the Accord, factory inspection agency of European apparel retailers, need to stop operations in Bangladesh by November 30.
As part of the process of shifting charges of its ongoing safety activities, Accord on Wednesday last started handing over the responsibility of 20 apparel factories to Remediation Coordination Cell (RCC) of Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishments (DIFE).
Meantime, ambassador to the EU delegation to Bangladesh Rensje Teerink, US ambassador in Dhaka Marcia S Bernicat and high commissioner of Canada in Dhaka Benoit Prefontaine in a letter to the secretaries of ministries of foreign affairs, commerce and labour made the appeal on Tuesday last.
"We, the undersigned heads of mission in Bangladesh, representing the countries who are signatories to the Bangladesh Sustainability Compact, respectfully encourage the government to urgently take all the necessary steps, including legal steps, to ensure that Accord can operate beyond 30 November 2018," they wrote.
Reiterating "their strong interest in making the RMG sector safe and sustainable", they also wrote that the purpose of this letter is to express their collective concern over the potential "premature" office operations in Bangladesh.
The activities of Accord in Bangladesh need to be stopped by November unless a suo moto order of the High Court is lifted, they noted.
The heads of the missions hailed achievements of the Bangladesh government and apparel industry towards making factories safe.
The creation of the RCC to regulate safety in the apparel sector marks an important step towards building a national body that can effectively regulate safety, they said.
However, they stressed that the Accord's work has not yet been completed as less than half of all Accord-covered factories could install adequate fire alarm and fire detection systems.
Besides, they said, less than 60 per cent of factories have completed structural retrofitting based on approved detailed engineering assessment (DEA).
They also said requiring the RCC to regulate safety in factories covered by the national initiative and simultaneously taking over the functions of the Accord, would possibly create all undue burdens on this new body and may jeopardise its successful start-up.
"Further capacity-building is necessary to ensure that Accord's work can be adequately and fully absorbed by the RCC without leaving a regulatory gap in RMG factory safety," they wrote.
They urged all stakeholders to jointly agree to a time-bound transition plan as per the Transition Monitoring Committee's (TMC) decision of May 2018, which means a six-month review mechanism, and in accordance with the criteria developed by the government of Bangladesh and the International Labour Organisation (ILO).
"In order for Accord to implement such a Transition Plan effectively and provide full support to the RCC to transition smoothly, the Accord office in Bangladesh needs to be permitted by the appropriate government agency to remain operational until Accord has formally handed over all of its functions to the RCC," they noted.
Accord started its work in Bangladesh after the collapse of Rana Plaza building in April 2013. To upgrade the compliance standards of apparel factories, some 200 European retailers and brands joined hands under 'Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh'.
When contacted over telephone on Tuesday, senior vice president of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) Faruque Hassan told the FE that Accord monitors remediation works of the factories linked to only 200 European retailers.
"Most of those factories have already completed major works relating to prevention of safety hazards. I don't think that its existence is now necessary anymore," he said.
He also said the RCC needs to be given scope for taking over the responsibility and further raise its capacity while monitoring all the remediation and safety works practically.
"Accord and Alliance have done good job. Our people learned many things regarding workplace safety from them. But we need to follow court's order regarding Accord's existence timeline," Mr Hassan noted.
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