Accord’s future in Bangladesh remains unclear. Founded in 2013 following the Rana Plaza factory accident, Accord is a legally-binding pact which aims at improving the safety of textile factories, and is currently signed by around 200 fashion companies producing clothing in Bangladesh.

The court hearing on the future of the organization has been deferred till April 7. Till then, Accord may continue with its inspections. Fashion companies, non-governmental organizations and, most recently, investors have spoken out in favor of Accord’s remaining in the country. Bangladesh and the country’s textile federation are insisting on a fixed date when Accord has to hand over its mandate to the national regulator, the Remediation Coordination Cell. But Accord and its supporters insist that its inspection duties shouldn’t be handed over until the regulator is in a position to do the work.

Accord and the government of Bangladesh have not been able to agree on a date to pass on inspection obligations. Accord’s five-year-term to remediate Bangladesh’s apparel factories ended in November 30. But apparel industry leaders are unwilling to let it stay on in Bangladesh any longer. They say Accord has forced many of them to undergo expensive remediation work, but even after such expensive remediation work, buyers, though they are happy with the compliance work, are not paying a fair sum to enable factories to recover their costs.