The Accord and the Alliance have not yet come to a consensus on factory inspection to decide whether both the platforms of the global retailers would inspect the same factories.
“We stick to our plan to inspect all the 1,600 factories,” said Brad Loewen, chief safety inspector of Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh.
The factories have been identified for inspection as the global brands source apparel items from the units.
“As there is no agreement between the Accord and Alliance, duplication in inspection can take place,” Brad said, after a meeting at Bangladesh Secretariat in Dhaka yesterday.
Officials of the ministries of commerce, labour and employment and foreign affairs, and ambassadors of Canada, US and Netherlands, and representatives of European Union were present.
The meeting, chaired by Canadian ambassador Heather Cruden, was to discuss the report of factory inspection done by the Accord and Alliance on fire, electrical and building structure.
At a meeting on March 27, the Accord and the Alliance had agreed not to inspect a factory twice – once done by anyone to avert double-inspection.
“We do not want to inspect factories again, which has already been inspected by the Accord. But the Accord wants to inspect the factories again after being inspected by us,” M Rabin, managing director of Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety, told the Dhaka Tribune.
Labour and Employment Secretary Mikail Shipar said the meeting discussed about the report of factory inspection and the factory closures, and the condition of workers of the closed factories.
“We urged the Accord to pay workers salaries for the period when the factories remain closed for remedial works,” he said, adding that the Accord gave no decision.
“The meeting also talked over concrete strength and the Accord agreed to follow the PSI at 2050 for brick-made structure and 2350 for stone-made structure for buildings which have been built after 2005. But it did not take decision on buildings which were built before 2005,” said a meeting source, seeking anonymity.
A total of 12 factories have so far been closed through conducting inspection.