Bangladesh’s 171 readymade garment factories which are on the suppliers’ list of ‘Accord on Fire and Building Safety’ have made zero progress on factory remediation suggested by the platform of major European brands and retailers. These factories got three months to one and a half years time, but no one has started remediation process yet after the approval of respective corrective action plans of the units by Accord.

According to Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), of the 171 factories, most of them were inspected by Accord more than one and a half years ago. On February 11, Accord provided the BGMEA with a list of 553 factories in which the remediation progress was below 40 per cent. According to the BGMEA, the progress on remediation in 211 factories was 0-10 per cent, in 85 factories 11-20 per cent, in 103 factories 21-30 per cent and 154 factories made 30-40 per cent progress. Of the 553 factories, 522 are the members of the BGMEA.

The BGMEA is planning to start a series of meeting with the factories to know the reasons for the slow progress on remediation work at their factories. The meeting will also find a solution to expediting the remediation work in the factories.