Misdirected bashing?

Initially it was the leaders of the country's apparel sector. Of late two key ministers have joined them in the act of bashing the two international platforms -- the Accord and the Alliance, formed following the collapse of the Rana Plaza in April 2013 to help the Bangladesh apparel industry in maintaining the minimum safety standards.  
Commerce Minister Mr. Tofail Ahmed has been critical of the Accord in particular in the past few weeks.
But the criticism coming from Finance Minister AMA Muhith about both the platforms last Monday by any measure was a little bit hard. In all likelihood the parties -- International Labour Organisation (ILO), major retailers and non-governmental organisations (NGOs), involved in the operations of the platforms -- might find the criticism hard to digest.
"They (Accord and Alliance) were welcomed to help us to attain buyers' confidence, but their activities have now become a noose for apparel industry. They are exercising the extra sovereign power", Dhaka newspapers quoted the finance minister as saying during his meeting with the apparel sector leaders last Monday.
"It is like Bangladesh has grown up too much. Now it is time to stop it. It's an attitude of charging batons. I will settle it with a very strong message", Muhith said.
President of the Bangladesh Garments Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA) Atiqul Islam had spoken before the finance minister and made lots of complaints about the two international coalitions. The content of his speech might have gotten the finance minister's adrenalin going.
Mr Atiqul alleged that the both Accord and Alliance were imposing 'impossible' task on the apparel unit owners. Both have been compelling factories to meet requirements according to their will, he said.
The BGMEA president sounded far more serious when he accused the coalitions of asking the international buyers not to source garments from the Bangladesh factories that were failing to meet the safety requirements at a cost between Tk. 50 million and Tk.100 million.
He said there has been erosion in the competitiveness of Bangladesh readymade garments (RMG) industry compared to that of Cambodia and some other countries due to 'unnecessary' spending, thrust upon the factories by the international coalitions.
The allegations that are being made by the government policymakers and the apparel industry people against the Accord and the Alliance do come in contrast to the words of welcome showered on the latter when the idea had been floated to help the Bangladesh RMG factories to improve its safety standards  through 'collective effort'.
What has actually gone wrong? Should not the international action platforms ask the industry owners to ensure minimum safety standards in their factories?
In fact the safety standard in apparel industry has improved since the launch of the initiatives by the government, the Accord and the Alliance.
According to the latest technical status report of the Bangladesh Sustainability Compact comprising Bangladesh, the European Union (EU), the USA and the ILO, significant progress has been made by three initiatives -- the government, the Accord and the Alliance -- in inspecting the RMG factories for structural integrity, fire and electrical safety.
A total of 652 factories were inspected under the national initiatives until March 2015. The Accord inspected 1291 factories and the Alliance 613. The number of factories closed following assessment stood at 32.
The Bangladesh Sustainability Compact was also born following the Rana Plaza tragedy.
The process of remediation of factories is now on in line with the recommendations of the assessing authorities. But some factories have been facing difficulties in arranging funds for remediation. The action platforms have been helping some of the factories by arranging buyers who are interested to buy products at higher rates.
Certainly there have been some improvements in the safety situation in the apparel factories since the Rana Plaza strategy. The presence of the Accord and the Alliance has helped the process going.
The reaction coming from the factory owners or their representative bodies is quite natural for none likes to see outsiders visiting their factories to detect faults, structural or otherwise, in it. The discomfort goes a few notches up if suggestion comes to do remediation at the cost of factory owner. Furthermore, the situation gets more complicated if the apparel-making units in other comparator countries are not subjected to the application of same or similar standards or are allowed freedom to flout them.
However, the country's RMG owners or the BGMEA or the like should not overlook the safety of their workers in the overriding interests of promoting sustainable growth of the sector. Hundreds of workers must not be the victims of factory collapse of fire incidents.
Going by the intention expressed by the Alliance or the Accord, it is somewhat difficult to believe that they, by their activities, would cause diversion of export orders from Bangladesh to any other country. They are committed to uphold the safety and welfare of the apparel sector workers. So, they are unlikely to do anything that would hurt the interest of the workers.
If one goes through the recent statements of the apparel industry leaders, one gets the clear idea that dissatisfaction revolves round the Accord. The Alliance that has its origin in North America does not hold that much of clout here.
But the Accord originating from the European Union (EU) and enjoying the full blessings of the governments there, has greater clout. The EU is the destination of 60 per cent of Bangladesh's clothing exports.
The USA suspended GSP (generalised system of preferences) facility for Bangladesh on the ground of workers' rights and safety issues. But that has not yet affected the exports of Bangladesh's apparel items to the USA, though the growth of such exports has somewhat slowed down. The Bangladesh apparel items have been subjected to import duties for a considerable period of time in the US market, even before the suspension of the GSP facility. The burden of such duties is borne by the importers, not the exporters of Bangladeshi apparel items. Nonetheless, this affects the prices at the retailers level there in the USA.
The EU has always been soft towards Bangladesh as far as the exports from the latter are concerned. But such support should not be taken for granted. So, it is better for persons in very responsible positions to take a dispassionate view of the situation before making any comments -- which may appear to be caustic -- about someone very useful.
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