The Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association has rejected outright a report on Bangladesh’s apparel workers by the New York University’s Stern Business School Centre for Business and Human Rights.
The rejection came at a press conference held yesterday at BGMEA in reaction to the report released on Thursday last.
According to the report, millions of RMG workers in Bangladesh are still working in unsafe conditions.
A majority of workers in export-oriented industry are deprived of safety initiatives while thousands of unregulated factories are putting nearly three million workers at risk, the report adds.
The apex trade body of apparel industry, BGMEA, termed the report “confusing” as it failed to distinguish local manufacturers from the export-oriented ones.
BGMEA also expressed concern that the report will cast shadow on the RMG sector.
It also said the data shown in the study titled – Beyond the Tip of Iceberg: Bangladesh’s forgotten Apparel Workers – do not match with the real data.
The apparel trade body mentioned that there are more than 7,000 garment factories in Bangladesh contributing to global fashion industry, 65% more than previous estimate.
But according to BGMEA, the number of factories producing export-oriented products stands at 3,600.
Obviously, the report is “confusing” as it included all factories in the study, BGMEA President Siddiqur Rahman told reporters at the media briefing on immediate reaction to the report.
Refusing the allegation of unauthorised sub-contracts, Siddiqur said there is no such deal, and BGMEA and buyers do not allow any illegal sub-contracts.
In today’s information technology, it is unlikely to engage in unauthorised subcontracts as manufacturers have to inform their buyers about every step of their production process such as cutting, sewing, washing and even packing, he said.
On the other hand, buyers place their orders after having their intended factories surveyed, added the BGMEA boss.
There are subcontracts within the association member factories and it is done with the consent of brands and buyers, he continued.
“Our research shows that indirect sourcing is an essential element of Bangladesh’s low-cost, high-volume model of garment production,” said Sarah Labowitz, co-director of the Stern Center for Business and Human Rights and a Research Scholar at Stern University.
The report claimed that there are 3,800 factories with about 3 million workers engaged in subcontracts.
BGMEA, however, described the report as untrue. “We will not take the responsibility of the non-member factories,” it said.
