INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS PAGES
safety progress made by ready-made
garment (RMG) factories in the last 6
years will be maintained and potential-
ly expanded, the Accord Steering Com-
mittee entered into negotiations with
the Bangladesh Garment Manufactur-
ers and Exporters Association (BG-
MEA) in early 2019. The parties
reached agreement on 8th May 2019
to establish a permanent brand-labour-
industry RMG Sustainability Council
(RSC) by May 2020, which will inherit
the Dhaka based Accord infrastructure
and staff, and continue with factory
inspections, remediation monitoring,
worker training, and the independent
grievance mechanism. The signing of
a Transition Agreement between the
Accord and the BGMEA on 14 Janu-
ary 2020 marks an important milestone
for the establishment of the RSC and
provides the basis for carrying forward
the work, key principles and all poli-
cies of the Accord in the RSC.
To strengthen the global brands’ active
participation in the RSC and to ensure
their supply chain responsibility for
workplace safety is met, the Accord
trade union and brand signatories will
be negotiating a new legally binding
agreement that supersedes the current
2018 Accord.
The OECD Forum on Due Diligence in
the Garment & Footwear Sector will
look at the prospects and efforts to
ensure the sustainability of the Ac-
cord's work in Bangladesh and to con-
sider how the experience and model
of the Accord might be applied in oth-
er countries' RMG industries.
Parties to the Accord: Brands and
trade unions within the Accord along
with the BGMEA have expressed the
view that the RSC as an national ini-
tiative will help establish a sustainable
solution to maintain the achievements
and carry forward the actions under the
Accord.
Government of Bangladesh: The MoU
of May 2019 in which the establish-
ment of the RSC was agreed, was en-
dorsed by the Government of Bang-
ladesh. The RSC will operate within the
regulatory framework of the laws ofBangladesh, closely cooperating with and supporting the regulatory functions
of the Government of Bangladesh.
NGOs: Non-Governmental Organisations like Clean Clothes Campaign, Worker
Rights Consortium and Human Rights Watch are not part of the governing body
of the RSC and have raised questions regarding the addition of a new stake-
holder (manufacturers) to the programme and how the independence of the
inspection and remediation program and safety complaints mechanism will be
assured.
Looking forward
The Bangladesh garment industry and global apparel brands and retailers have
invested millions of dollars to make necessary safety upgrades which have
made garment factories safer. For example, the Accord has inspected more
than 2000 factories for fire, electrical and structural safety and identified more
than 150,000 safety hazards. More than 90% of these safety hazards have now
been remediated resulting in a significant decrease in factory fires and other
industrial accidents. The Accord is conducting an extensive training program
for the labour-management Safety Committees in more than 1200 Accord cov-
ered, and has informed more than 1,8 million workers through All Employee
Meetings about their rights to a safe workplace and how to raise safety con-
cerns.
However, further efforts are still necessary. In the immediate term, efforts need
to be taken to respond to identified risks. For example, about half of the facto-
ries have not yet fully remediated all safety items related to safe egress, which
ensures that workers can safely exit a factory in case of a fire. More than a
thousand factories still need their fire detection and protection system verified
as fully functional and installed to standard. In the longer-term the RSC will
need to establish a sustainable financing model and further develop its work in
the areas of industrial relations, skill development and environmental standards.
Heightened due diligence for garment & footwear
manufacturers & buyers operating in Myanmar
This note has been prepared by the Centre for Research on Multinational Cor-
porations (SOMO), Amsterdam, Nederland
The garment, footwear, textile and accessories sectors in Myanmar employ
over 1 million workers and contribute to approximately 10 percent of the coun-
try’s export revenue. Garment exports have experienced a sizeable increase in
the past decade from USD 349 M in 2010 to USD 4.6 B in 2018. (Thomas, J.,
2019).
While production is primarily concentrated in Yangon, apparel manufacturing
also takes place in other clusters, such as the Thilawa Special Economic Zone
south of Yangon. Europe is the most important market for Myanmar apparel,
bolstered by duty-free access to EU markets through Everything But Arms
which is part of the EU’s wider Generalised Scheme of Preferences (GSP). The
European Commission has launched a period of 'enhanced engagement' with
Myanmar on EBA involving intensified dialogue and monitoring. While Europe
is Myanmar’s largest market for garment, there is some indication that US
sourcing may increase in response to increased tariffs in the US for goods
imported from China.
The labour and human rights context in Myanmar
The apparel and footwear sector is exposed to a number of labour, human
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