The Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety, a retailers platform for North American buyers – has cut business ties with more 11 RMG factories as the latter failed to make headway towards remediation.
With this, the total number of factories suspended by the Alliance stood at 42.
Earlier, the Accord on Fire and Building Safety, a European retailers group, suspended business relations with 13 other factories.
In a statement, the Alliance claimed that it has cut business relations with the factories for their failure to show adequate progress in remediation, failure to submit evidence of its progress, lack of communication and failure to comply with review panel recommendations. Some factory owners cut their business ties on their own.
If suspended factories wish to restore its participation to the Alliance process, they will need to undergo a new inspection at their own cost, stated the Alliance.
The issue of safety in the country’s apparel sector came under spotlight after the Rana Plaza building collapse, which killed more than 1,135 workers.
The Alliance has so far inspected 870 factories while the Accord more than 1,600 supplier factories.