943 RMG units risky

Commerce Minister Ghulam Mohammed Quader has said as many as 943 readymade garment factories are defective and risky and those have been asked to fix things up.

“The factories have been given a deadline to overcome the fault. In case of failure or defiance, the factories will be shut down,” he said on Sunday.

The minister was talking to reporters after a meeting of social compliances forum on readymade garments at his ministry.

The meeting was organised in the wake of the Savar tragedy, which has so far claimed 1126 lives.

The forum of the export-oriented garment sector is comprised of owners, workers, experts and government representatives.

Quader said the Fire Service and Civil Defence Directorate and the Ministry of Labour identified the 943 factories to be risky after visiting about 3,500 units across the country.

According to the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) and Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA), there are around 7,000 apparel factories.

The Commerce Minister mentioned that 20 faulty factories were already shut.

He also said the government decided in principle to sign the Trade and Investment Framework Cooperation Agreement (TIFCA) agreement with the USA.

“We’ve no pressure from the America to sign the deal. It also has no relation to Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) facility.”

The minister said the government was trying to retain the duty-free access of Bangladeshi apparels to the US market since it is the single largest export destination of the garment products.

“If we lose the GSP facility, we’ll be able to talk about it once the TIFCA is signed. This will create a legal platform (for us) to discuss other issues.”

Quader said GSP covers five percent of the total exports to the US.