Thrust on harmonised set of guidelines for RMG factory inspection

A former apparel-sector apex body chief has urged the government to urgently take initiative to fix a harmonised set of guidelines for factory inspection programme in order to ensure working-safety in the local garment industry.
He also underlined the need for setting the guidelines taking the 'Bangladesh context' into consideration as the foreign buyers often try to impose standards from their own perspectives.
"If the ongoing inspection layout, hired from different context of the foreign countries in many cases, continues, the readymade garment (RMG) sector will unexpectedly face severe music, ultimately harming the greater inertest of the country," Anwar-ul-Alam Chowdhury Parvez, former president of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), said.
Mr Parvez was sharing his views with a group of journalists on various issues, together with the RMG factory inspection, at a hotel in the city Monday.
"The sector is really under big crisis. But many of us including even some BGMEA leaders cannot realize it in the true sense," Mr Parvez said.
Elaborating various problems the apparel makers are facing regarding the factory-inspection, the former BGMEA boss said, "The solution applied in the foreign countries having separate perspectives cannot be appropriate to solve the problems in the garment industry of our country with different context."
Because, the problems of our industry are not the same to that in their countries, he said.
He was also of the view that the government should come forward to ensure one platform and single set of guideline to be applied mainly by the local experts for inspection of the RMG factories.
Mr Parvez also mentioned a number of examples in favour of his logic.
Presenting such an example that an apparel factory was instantly shut down after the inspection, and few days later, it (the factory) was also allowed for production, Mr Parvez said, "Once a factory is closed, how you will revive its earlier chain and speed of production, and who will compensate for the losses counted?"
Several principles from separate public and private agencies including the Public Works Ministry, Commerce Ministry, DIT, BUET, BNBC and Institute of Engineers, Bangladesh (IEB) etc are sporadically guiding the Accord inspection team, "creating confusion in the process of inspection and hampering the sector as a whole", he said.
Reiterating for a harmonised set of guideline for the inspection in the context of Bangladesh, the former BGMEA chief opposed instant shut down of any factories just after the inspection; rather, he suggested allowing a certain period of time for the factories so that they can comply with the stipulated standards.