The government has initiated the process of incoreorating information on 3,498 garment units in the proposed database, which will be completed by the end of this month sources said.
The Labour and Employment Ministry, in cooperation with the International Labour Organisation, is preparing the database.
The inspectors of the Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishments (DIFE) have already collected the information on those who are running readymade garment (RMG) factories across the country, they added.
A working committee, headed by the DIFE Inspector General, has recently been formed in this regard. The committee will meet this week to finalise which information would be incorporated and accessibility of those information, they further added.
Factory's name, location and number of workers and information related to trade unions will initially be included in the database, they said. They are giving emphasis to security of information.
The publicly accessible database is one of the key requirements set by the US and the EU for restoration of the GSP (Generalised System of Preferences) by the former and retention of the same in the latter's markets.
"We have information on 3,498 garment factories that have been collected during the DIFE inspectors' visit and those are being included in the database," Syed Ahmed, Inspector General of the DIFE, told the FE Friday.
The Orange Bangladesh Development Ltd has started establishing the database while the ILO is providing its support in this regard, he said. The process to incorporate primary information will be done by the end of March, he added.
Replying to a question, he said information on factory and workers will be available in the database while there will be an inter-link regarding information related to trade unions.
Earlier, the US under its Action Plan and the Sustainability Compact recommended a publicly-accessible database on labour, fire and building inspection providing information on factories, their location, violations identified, fines and sanctions administered, factories closed or relocated and the violation remediated.
It also suggested making public information on the status and final outcomes of individual union registration applications, including the time taken to process those and the basis for denial, if relevant, and information on collective bargaining agreements concluded.
Diplomats from the US, Canada, Germany, the Netherlands and the EU in their meetings with the government high officials pressed for establishment of the database by end of March.
When contacted, Md Shahidullah Azim, vice president of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), said the access to the database should be selective.
"Only the relevant authorities should have the access to the database for greater interest of the sector," he added.
