Bangladesh owner accuses Accord of 'unfairly' shutting apparel factory

A Bangladeshi owner has accused the international buyers’ organisation, Accord, of unfairly closing down his clothing factory despite all the buildings being tested safe.

“ILO, BUET and BGMEA experts said the buildings are safe, but Accord declined to accept it. In their assessment, one building was not safe,” Mozammel Huq, Chairman and Managing Director of Liberty Fashion Wears Ltd, said at a press conference on Wednesday.

“Based on the faulty report, they shut down the whole factory compound,” he said terming it an ‘unfair decision’.

It was his third press conference organised out of desperation to reopen the facilities.

The ‘Accord’ is an independent agreement designed to make all garment factories in Bangladesh safe workplaces. The name is taken from the ‘Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh'.

It was signed after the Rana Plaza disaster in 2013 by over 200 apparel brands, retailers and importers from over 20 countries in Europe, North America, Asia and Australia; two global trade unions; and eight Bangladesh trade unions and four NGO witnesses.

They will be working until 2017.

Mozammel claimed that Pakistan-based Medway Consulting Services provided ‘wrong’ assessment report to the Accord based on which they took the decision.

“They are now sticking to their decision, though it’s a wrong decision,” he claimed.

But Accord has released a brief statement refuting the allegation. “The Accord disagrees with the allegations levelled towards the Accord by LFWL.”

The statement is signed by Accord Executive Director Rob Wayss.

Huq said he had agreements with 12 international brands including Primark, K-mart, Next, Debenhams, and Carrefour.

The factory is located in Ashulia on 6.61 acres of land where the Accord-assigned consultancy firm found a problem with only one building, Mozammel said.

“How can you shut down the whole factory when you found a problem in one building only,” he asked demanding that "the Accord reverse its decision and allow his factory to reopen".

He said after the BUET and BGMEA, the ILO team of experts declared the building safe on Mar 25, 2015.