Accord-Alliance rift over inspection of RMG units

A fresh complexity has been created over the inspection of some 350 ready-made garment (RMG) factories which have been selected by both Accord and Alliance for assessment, officials and people close to the inspection process said.
The Accord is sticking to its previous decision to assess all its listed factories, including those which have been overlapped with the Alliance list, they mentioned.
On the other hand, the Alliance has decided to inspect the said numbers of factories, except 20 units which have already been assessed by the Accord.
If both the buyers' platforms remain firm on their decisions regarding the inspection of the common factories, it could cause some problems including disruption in production activities of a significant number of units, manufacturers said.
Considering the situation, the matter was raised at a meeting, which was held Wednesday between the government and the stakeholders including representatives from the Accord and the Alliance.
Commerce Secretary Mahbub Ahmed, Labour Secretary Mikail Shipar, envoys from the embassies of the USA, the EU, Canada, the Netherlands and Denmark; BGMEA vice president Md Shahidullah Azim, BKMEA vice president Md Hatem, Alliance managing director M Rabin and Accord chief safety inspector (CSI) Brad Loewen  were present at the meeting held at the commerce ministry.
There are about 350 factories that produce apparel products for both Accord and Alliance-signatory brands and retailers, according to sources.
They said the Accord has already assessed 20 of these factories, while some have been inspected by the Alliance.
When asked, Alliance managing director M Rabin said, "As per our commitment and to avoid duplication and also showing respect and keeping confidence in Accord's inspection, we will not assess those 20 factories."
"We hope Accord will also show the same respect and confidence and recognise Alliance's inspection," he noted.
"As we have the deadline to complete the inspection by July 10 next, Alliance engineers will assess the rest of the factories," he added.
Meeting sources said the Alliance was of the opinion of assessing 50 per cent of such common factories, while the Accord was yet to come up with such a decision.
The Accord CSI informed the meeting that it was mandatory to assess all the member-factories by its CSI, they added.
Accord CSI Brad Loewen said they have not signed any agreement that it would not assess the factories inspected by the Alliance.
"Until now, we are sticking to our plan to assess all our listed factories," he said.
Opposing the duplication, Md Hatem, said it would be an additional burden for the owners saying they would face unnecessary hassle while production would be hampered.
"Both the initiatives have to show respect to each other and resolve it through negotiations," he added.
Both the initiatives have earlier committed that no duplication of inspection would occur, but in reality it is happening, he added.
However, the commerce secretary said the government would send a progress report to the authorities concerned in line with the Sustainability Compact by next month.
The EU will review the progress so far made in the country's garment sector as recommended by the Compact at the end of June or July next.
"But the venue where the review meeting will be held is yet to be finalised," the Commerce Secretary said.
The meeting discussed the updates of the ongoing garment factory assessment programmes by Accord, Alliance and BUET, he said adding the database for the garment sector needed some modifications and ILO and the labour ministry were jointly working in this regard.
Regarding the recruitment of additional 200 inspectors, Labour Secretary Mikail Shipar said the completion of the process by the revised June deadline largely depends on the amendment to recruitment rules.