Brands and unions have signed an agreement to extend the Accord agreement in Bangladesh and expand its scope to other garment- and textile-producing countries. The agreement has been hailed by labor groups across the country as it paves the way for more robust worker protections globally.

Titled the ‘International Accord for Health And Safety in the Textile and Garment Industry,’ the new agreement extends out to October 2023. It remains a legally binding commitment to ensure worker safety in Bangladesh. Companies including H&M Group and Zara-owner Inditex have signed the new agreement. A full list of signatory brands will be announced September 1, when the new Accord comes into effect.

The Bangladesh Accord was established in the wake of the collapse of the Rana Plaza factory complex in 2013. The disaster killed more than 1,000 people and remains one of the deadliest garment industry disasters to date. Amid widespread public outrage, more than 200 brands signed onto the initiative, which made them subject to legal action if their supplier factories in Bangladesh did not meet health-and-safety standards or failed to fix issues within an agreed-upon time frame. It was an unprecedented level of accountability and remains an unusually robust framework in an industry that is still largely governed by voluntary codes of conduct.