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Clothing makers and Accord have finally reached a consensus over the retailers' group's transitioning into the proposed Readymade Garment Sustainability Council (RSC).
The consensus came along with a host of conditions such as maintaining existing transparency with full public disclosure of inspection results, remediation activities and the continuation of Accord's safety and health complaints mechanism independently and autonomously.
As part of the process, the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association, or BGMEA, and Accord on Wednesday signed an agreement agreeing to the articles of association for the council after a meeting held in the city.
BGMEA president Dr Rubana Huq, acting president of the Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association Mohammad Hatem and Accord deputy director Joris Oldenziel, among others, were present at the signing ceremony.
The Accord, a platform of more than 200 global apparel brands, retailers and rights groups mostly based in Europe, was formed immediately after the Rana Plaza building collapse to improve the workplace safety in the country's apparel industry for a tenure of five years, which ended in May 2018.
The RSC is "an unprecedented national supply chain initiative," uniting industry, brands and trade unions to ensure a sustainable solution to carry forward the significant accomplishments made on workplace safety in Bangladesh, according to a joint statement.
The council will be governed by a board of directors consisting of an equal number of representatives from the industry, brands and trade unions, it said.
It will operate within the regulatory framework of the laws of Bangladesh, closely co-operating with and supporting the regulatory functions of the Bangladesh government.
It will also retain all health and safety inspections, remediation, safety training and complaints handling functions currently carried out by the Accord, it said.
According to the agreement, decisions, policies and protocols developed by the Accord will be carried over to the council as these proved to be effective and expedient.
"All existing transparency features of the Accord will be maintained, including full public disclosure of inspection results and remediation activities," it said.
Accord listed factories would be carried over to the RSC retaining their remediation status and any outstanding remediation requirements as per the factory's corrective action plan.
All operations, staff, infrastructure, and functions of the Accord Office in Dhaka will be transferred to the RSC while it would appoint a Chief Safety Officer, retaining the same independence, autonomy, authorities, and reporting requirements practiced by the Accord.
The BGMEA, Accord brands and trade unions look forward to working together in the RSC towards the joint goal of protecting garment workers in safe factories, the statement noted.
Asked, Dr Huq said, "Accord will cease their function in Bangladesh and is handing over to a national collaborative committee formed by us, in which brands, unions and industry will be together to monitor factories."
"We are taking over from Accord all of its resources and will follow their protocols along with inserting a national context," she added.