After Rana Plaza 2013
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Bangladesh All Party Parliamentary Group After Rana Plaza A report into the readymade garment industry in Bangladesh 2013 All Party Parliamentary Group on Bangladesh The All Party Parliamentary Group is appointed to foster a greater understanding of the country of Bangladesh and provide a conduit for the Bangladeshi community here in the UK to Parliament Current Membership Anne Main (Chair) Baroness Tonge Nick Varley Jim Fitzpatrick (Vice-chair) Baroness Udin Fiona O’Donnell Mark Field (Vice-chair) Lord Dholakia Mike Freer Lord Sheikh (Vice-chair) Lord Swinfen Mike Hancock Rushanara Ali (Vice-chair) Brian Binley Laura Pike Simon Hughes (Vice-chair) Richard Fuller David Burrowes Nick de Bois (Vice-chair) Karen Buck Jon Ashworth Lord Ahmed (Treasurer) Jeremy Corbyn Matthew Offord Sir Peter Bottomley Keith Vaz Hywell Williams Lyn Brown Andy Love Emma Reynolds Stephen McPartland Simon Danczuk Stuart Gardner Nicky Morgan Stephen Lloyd Baroness Varma Mark Pritchard Kevin Brennan Mark Lancaster Mark Lazarowicz Bridget Phillipson Gavin Shuker Tony Lloyd Lord Steel Virendra Sharma Michael Ellis Shabana Mahmood Jonathan Reynolds Contacts All correspondence and general enquiries should be addressed to Anne Main MP, House of Commons, Westminster, London, SW1A 0AA. The telephone number is 020 7219 8270. Members of the APPG who visited Bangladesh Anne Main MP (Conservative, St Albans) 1 Shabana Mahmood MP (Labour, Birmingham Ladywood) Nick de Bois MP (Conservative, Enfield North) Rushanara Ali MP (Labour, Bethnal Green and Bow) Simon Danczuk MP (Labour, Rochdale) Jonathan Reynolds MP (Labour, Stalybridge and Hyde) Publication The report has been published by the Parliamentary Liaison Office Research Assistants Naomi Hirst and Hugo Phillips 2 Contents Foreword ................................................................................................................................................. 5 Executive Summary ................................................................................................................................. 6 Recommendations .................................................................................................................................. 9 Introduction .......................................................................................................................................... 14 Part 1: An anatomy of industrial disaster: Tazreen Fashions and Rana Plaza ..................................... 18 Infrastructural integrity ..................................................................................................................... 19 Labour rights ..................................................................................................................................... 20 Poor working conditions ................................................................................................................... 23 Compliance culture ........................................................................................................................... 24 Purchasing practices ......................................................................................................................... 26 Summary ........................................................................................................................................... 28 Part 2: What is being done? Corporate Social Responsibility and Multi-stakeholder Initiatives after Rana Plaza ............................................................................................................................................. 29 Corporate Social Responsibility ........................................................................................................ 29 Audit regime ..................................................................................................................................... 30 Brand liaison with government and workers .................................................................................... 34 The Accord in Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh ...................................................................... 35 The Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety ...................................................................................... 37 National Tripartite Plan of Action on Fire Safety and Structural Integrity in the garment Sector of Bangladesh, the ILO and the EU Sustainability Compact .................................................................. 38 Summary ........................................................................................................................................... 40 Part 3: All Party Parliamentary Group on Bangladesh Fact-Finding Mission to Bangladesh ................ 41 Working Conditions .......................................................................................................................... 42 International Brands ......................................................................................................................... 45 Infrastructure .................................................................................................................................... 47 Planning and building control ........................................................................................................... 48 Government Strategy ........................................................................................................................ 50 Summary ........................................................................................................................................... 52 Part 4: Research Findings ...................................................................................................................... 53 Capacity development in construction industry ............................................................................... 53 Government Strategy ........................................................................................................................ 55 3 Capacity development and a cultural shift on the factory floor ....................................................... 56 Increasing transparency in and introducing accountability to the supply chain .............................. 57 Tackling poor purchasing practices ................................................................................................... 60 4 Foreword The collapse of Rana Plaza was one of the worst industrial accidents in recent history, resulting in the loss of over 1100 lives. The scenes of the disaster and the conditions of workers shocked the world and exposed the profound flaws within the Ready Made Garment (RMG) industry in Bangladesh. These prompted the APPG to commission a report on the RMG sector. We strongly believe that Bangladesh needs to be supported in reforming the RMG sector and that the UK as a major export market and aid donor has an important role to play in providing the required assistance and expertise. The RMG industry has been a crucial part of Bangladesh’s economic success story since the 1990s with the potential to play a leading role towards Bangladesh’s ambition to become a middle income country by 2021. However, its future has been thrown into doubt as a consequence of the heavy human, economic and reputational costs which have been revealed by the disaster. It is imperative that the initial impetus from Rana Plaza is not lost but is translated into concrete actions that will improve working conditions and ensure that Bangladesh does not lose out on future investment opportunities. We are grateful to all those who provided their time and expertise to the report and we recognise that there are no simple solutions to such a complex issue; the necessary reforms will take time and require substantial political and brand engagement. We hope that this report will contribute to the current agreements that have been drawn up since Rana Plaza and highlight some of the areas that need to be addressed as a priority. Anne Main Chair of the APPG on Bangladesh 5 Executive Summary In the view of the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Bangladesh the Ready Made Garment (RMG) industry in Bangladesh is currently at a critical crossroads and in urgent need of reform to ensure its long term viability. The human costs of doing business in Bangladesh, as illustrated by the Rana Plaza collapse, combined with poor infrastructure and political instability are the most pressing challenges facing the industry. If Bangladesh is not to lose future investment in such a critical industry, all stakeholders must engage in dialogue together to address supply bottlenecks and rebuild the reputation of the industry by improving working conditions. The RMG industry is a key driving force of Bangladesh’s economic development: in 2011-12 Bangladesh was the world’s second largest exporter of apparel and registered $19.1 billion of ready- made garment exports, a total which accounted for 13% of the country’s GDP. The industry currently provides employment for an estimated 3.6 million people and is predicted to be the fastest growing export industry over the next two decades. This growth is to be celebrated, but it is the concern of the APPG that the gains enjoyed at the national level are not evenly distributed and that the 3.6 million workers employed by the industry are labouring in precarious conditions. On 24 April 2013 more than 1100 people died in one of the world’s worst industrial accidents. The collapse of Rana