Accord wanted to stay on in Bangladesh for three more years. However, now that looks unlikely. Smart Jeans has filed a writ petition against Accord after the platform of more than 200 retailers, mostly based in Europe, terminated its business relationship with the Chittagong-based garment maker. Smart Jeans is a supplier to members of the Alliance, another platform like the Accord, that composed of 28 North American retailers. But it supplies to signatories of the Accord from time to time.

There was an understanding between Accord and Alliance that they would accept the inspection certification of each other in case of common factories to avoid duplication. Since Smart Jeans is largely a supplier to Alliance members, the platform's inspectors examined the three factories owned by the group and suggested necessary remediation work. The company completed remediation and Alliance engineers also gave their seal of approval. However, Accord engineers also inspected the factories and found the corrective work were unsatisfactory.

Consequent on the petition filed by Smart Jeans, the tenure of Accord is unlikely to be extended beyond May 31. Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh is a five-year independent, legally binding agreement signed on May 15, 2013, between more than 200 retailers and trade unions designed to build a safe garment industry in the country.