The 2018 Accord is an independent, legally binding agreement between global brands and IndustriALL Global Union and UNI Global Union designed to work towards a safe and healthy garment Industry in Bangladesh. The 2018 Accord builds on the preceding Accord that was signed in May 2013 and is due to expire in May 2018. The signatories to the 2018 Accord agree to continue a fire and building safety program in Bangladesh to enable a working environment in which no worker needs to fear fire, building collapses or other accidents that could be prevented with reasonable health and safety measures.

The Accord signatories aim to transition the 2018 Accord functions to a national regulatory body when such a body is ready. As such the 2018 Accord will be known as the ‘Transition Accord’.

Currently, 125 global apparel companies and apparel retailers have signed the 2018 Transition Accord.

The language of agreement states the Transition Accord will enter into effect on 31 May 2018. The agreement will expire on 31 May 2021, unless a joint monitoring committee (comprised of Accord brand signatories, Accord trade union signatories, BGMEA, ILO and the Government of Bangladesh) unanimously agrees that a set of rigorous conditions for a handover to a national regulatory body have been met prior to 31 May 2021.

If it is determined that no such body is ready, the 2018 Accord will be extended for at least another 12 months (taking into account the process of review and handover agreed with the Government of Bangladesh and BGMEA).

The global unions and signatory companies have signed the 2018 Accord to ensure that the safety improvements achieved under the 2013 Accord are maintained and potentially expanded.

The Accord signatories recognize that the Accord model of independent inspections, collective brand leverage, public disclosure, accountability, and bi-partite governance has achieved unprecedented improvements in fire and building safety in the ready-made-garment (RMG) industry in Bangladesh.

The 2013 Accord has monitored safety at over 1600 RMG factories in Bangladesh. As of December 2017, over 600 factories have completed 90% or more of their remediation. The Accord Safety Committee and Safety Training Program is underway in more than 800 factories and has reached more than 1,2 million workers.

Whilst the progress is remarkable, much still has to be done to ensure all factories covered by the Accord are made safe and stay safe. This includes completing all outstanding remediation from initial inspections, completing new findings and training and continuous support to ensure effective functioning Safety Committees in all factories.

Signatory companies will be responsible for funding the activities of the Accord foundation, with each company contributing its equitable share of the funding in accordance with a formula to be established by the Steering Committee subject to a maximum contribution of €300,000 per year for each year of the term of the agreement. The fees will be set through similar band structure as the 2013 Accord bands, based on the annual shipment value and the number of factories in Bangladesh. The band fee structure has been provisionally agreed to by the signatories for the 1st year of the Transition Accord (June 2018- May 2019).

Click here to download the 2018 Accord fee structure

Key new elements of the 2018 Accord include:

• Safety committee and safety training in all covered factories
• Training and complaints protocol to cover Freedom of Association (FoA) protections in relation to workers protecting their own safety under the scope of the Transition Accord.
• Workers’ severance payments in Accord related factory closures and relocations;
• Potential, voluntary expansion of scope to related industries;
• Transition of Accord functions to a national regulatory body when such body is ready.
• Release of brand responsibility for inactive factories after 18 months.
• Conditional possibility for signatories who stop sourcing from Bangladesh to terminate agreement.

Key amendments to existing articles in the 2013 Accord include:

• Removal of factory tiering;
• Changes to dispute resolution process including option of mediation to make arbitration unnecessary.
• Reference to signatory’s responsibility to assure any intermediaries support the signatory’s efforts to fulfil Accord obligations.

The signatories to the 2018 ‘Transition Accord’ are committed to hand over the work of the Accord to a credible and demonstrably functioning national regulatory body.

The Transition Accord will continue until a joint monitoring committee (comprised of Accord brand signatories, Accord trade union signatories, BGMEA, ILO and the Bangladesh government) agrees that the stated, rigorous conditions for a handover are met. This joint monitoring body will review the Bangladesh Government’s progress towards meeting these handover conditions on a bi-annual basis.

These rigorous conditions include: demonstrated proficiency in inspection capacity, remediation of hazards, enforcement of the law against non-compliant factories, full transparency of governance and remediation progress, and investigation and fair resolution of workers’ safety complaints. When the joint monitoring committee agrees the conditions for handover have been met, there will be a further transition period of six months, after which the local body would assume responsibility for factories now covered by the Accord. If it is determined that no such body is ready, the 2018 Accord will be extended for at least another 12 months (taking into account the process of review and handover agreed with the Government of Bangladesh and BGMEA).

Upon agreement by the Steering Committee, the work of the Accord could possibly be expanded to other related industries beyond RMG on a voluntary basis such as: knitting, spinning & weaving; washing, dyeing & printing facilities; embroidery & accessories; home textiles; leather; footwear. The signatory brand would determine whether they would list other, non-CMT RMG factories which produce their products. Once listed, all provisions of 2018 Transition Accord would apply to the respective signatory brand and the listed supplier factories.

On February 2nd 2018, the 2018 Transition Accord Interim Steering Committee agreed the following: Pursuant to para 1 of the Transition Accord, signatories to the 2018 Transition Accord may choose to list their suppliers in any of the following categories: i) home textiles; ii) fabric and knit accessories. If a signatory so chooses, it must list all its suppliers in the respective category.

Signatories to this agreement recognize that safe workplaces cannot be assured in the long term without the active participation of the people who work in them. For this reason, signatories will continue to promote respect for the right of workers to freedom of association in accordance with relevant ILO Conventions.

The Accord Training Program will cover the importance of Freedom of Association and the role of industrial relations in ensuring the functionality and empowerment of effective Safety Committees and protecting workers’ health and safety (Art. 12b).

The Accord Steering Committee will develop a Complaints Protocol to ensure that workers’ rights to Freedom of Association are respected in relation to protecting their own safety under the scope of this agreement.

The 2018 Accord’s Safety Committee and Safety Training program will continue to focus on training and empowering Safety Committees to address and monitor safety and health issues in factories on a day-to-day basis. Whereas in the 2013 Accord, the Safety Committee and Safety Training program was implemented at tier 1&2 factories only, the removal of factory tiering means the program will be expanding to all factories covered under the Accord.

The Accord Safety Committee and Safety Training program includes all employee meetings and informational sessions to inform workers about safe evacuation in case of fire, and to build awareness of the Safety Committee and its members.

The subjects raised in FAQ #9 will be introduced to the Safety Committee and Safety Training program of the 2018 Transition Accord.

If a factory is temporarily closed for renovations necessary to implement the Corrective Action Plan, workers’ employment relationships and regular incomes will be maintained for up to six months. For factory closures in excess of six months, workers will be paid either full severance benefits or six months regular income, whichever is greater.

If a factory relocates in order to comply with Accord requirements, workers will be given the option to move to the new premises, retaining all current employment benefits, including recognition of length of service. Should a worker be unwilling or unable to continue employment at the new premises due to an unreasonable increase in travel time, the employer will terminate the worker’s employment and the worker will receive full severance benefits (i.e. not just the reduced severance payments allowed under the BLA for relocation situations).

These are the three steps to follow.

1. Download the 2018 Accord here.
2. Initial every page. Sign and date the final page.
3. Send the signed Accord to:
IndustriALL Global Union: aiwachow@industriall-union.org;
UNI Global Union: adrienne.kirkman@uniglobalunion.org;
Add the Accord Secretariat in copy: signatories@bangladeshaccord.com.

Each signatory company signs the Accord with IndustriALL Global Union and UNI Global Union. After receiving the signed agreement, the global unions and the Accord Secretariat will sign and send a confirmation letter.

Following this process, the Accord Secretariat will conduct an induction to brief the signatory on the implementation and procedures of the Accord and on the functions and support of the Accord Secretariat. For more information, contact the Accord at contact@bangladeshaccord.com.

For an updated list with the 2018 Accord signatories, go to:
www.uniglobalunion.org/2018AccordSigners;
www.industriall-union.org/signatories-to-the-2018-accord.

No. All factories covered under the 2013 Accord that still have uncorrected safety hazards are working towards clear timelines, as stated in their Corrective Action Plans. Factories are required to meet these timelines. Failure to do so will prompt a notice and warning process in accordance with the established Escalation Protocol leading to termination of the business relationship with Accord signatory companies, if these efforts do not succeed.

According to 2018 Accord’s Art. 22, a signatory company is released of its responsibility for a factory’s remediation if:

• The factory committed a ‘zero tolerance’ violation of the signatory s policy;
• The signatory has not placed an order in the factory for 18 months and commits not to place an order with the factory for another 24 months;
• The signatory terminates its business relationship with the factory in accordance with the Escalation Protocol.

Signatory companies can terminate the agreement if they stop sourcing from Bangladesh and if factories for which the signatory is responsible have been fully remediated.

In February 2017, the Accord Steering Committee decided to set up a Remediation Fund to conditionally provide financial remediation support to Accord covered factories which do not have any business with Accord signatory companies.

The scope of this fund is limited to Accord covered RMG “Inactive Factories”. These are factories that were listed by Accord signatory companies, received an initial inspection from the Accord but have no more business with Accord signatory companies since November 1st, 2016.

Remediation progress at inactive factories is slower than at factories with continued business with Accord signatory companies. The fund is a practical way to support Accord covered factories that are not supported through any commercial relationships with Accord signatory companies.

Financial support will be available for factories meeting the eligibility criteria for a maximum of 50% of the estimated cost of uncompleted fire, electrical and structural remediation items in the Corrective Action Plan (CAP). Factories applying for the fund must submit a detailed, itemised budget for all outstanding remediation items, and provide competitive market-based quotes for all materials and services for each CAP item. The Accord will assess applications on a first come first serve basis. Available funds are limited. Interested, eligible factories should accordingly, act quickly.

The Accord Remediation Fund which will be made conditionally available to Accord covered factories that have made legitimate efforts to complete safety remediation and that need access to funds to complete remediation or who will greatly accelerate completion of remediation through receipt of a financial support. The Stichting Bangladesh Foundation (Accord) shall retain exclusive authority regarding decisions on applications submitted by Inactive, covered factories. This includes the decision on support and the amount of support provided. Such decisions of the Accord shall not be appealable by any party in any form.

The Accord will also review the level of participation of the factory in the Accord program, by reviewing frequency of CAP submissions; performance on remediating immediate items; performance on low cost remediation items; responsiveness to communications. The Accord will carefully review the applications for financial support, including the submitted detailed budget, comparative quotes, the factory’s order books and bank statements.

The verification of fund utilization will be done through review of receipts/invoices to ascertain the funds were expended on remediation items. At each factory’s request for the next instalment, the Accord will conduct a follow-up inspection to verify the remediation reported by the factory was completed.

Non-performance with the contract agreement will lead to suspension of the payments and may lead to requirement of return of the funds. If the financial support recipient fails to allocate the provided funds to the agreed remediation the Accord will cancel the financial support with immediate effect. The Accord will consider a simultaneous termination of the supplier for failure to remediate. In such cases, the Accord will be following the Article 21 Escalation Protocol and Operating Procedure and related communications.

The Accord is a legally binding agreement between international trade unions IndustriALL and UNI Global, Bangladesh trade unions, and international brands and retailers (Companies).  International NGOs, including the Clean Clothes Campaign and the Workers’ Rights Consortium, International Labour Rights Forum and Maquila Solidarity Network are witnesses to the agreement.  The International Labour Organisation (ILO) acts as the independent chair.

The aim of the Accord is the implementation of a programme for reasonable health and safety measures to ensure a safe and sustainable Bangladeshi Ready Made Garment industry for a period of five years.

Below is the cost for companies to sign up to the Accord. Please note that this is the cost to cover the inspections and training programme.
Please note this is subject to revision and may change. This is currently fixed for the first year.

Where a building or structure is found to pose an immediate threat to worker safety, the Accord will recommend that the building be temporarily evacuated until such time that more in-depth tests can be conducted, substantial weight and load is removed from the building, and/or immediate strengthening measures are completed. In such cases, the Accord requests that the Review Panel, established through the Ministry of Labour and Employment led National Plan of Action, be convened. The Review Panel was established for inspections which lead to determinations that a building evacuation or suspension to operations is required. In order to overturn the initial production suspension / evacuation recommendation of the inspection, a unanimous decision of the team of 4 Review Panel engineers (1 Accord, 1 Alliance, 2 Government of Bangladesh/BUET) must be reached.

Workers will be notified and will continue to receive salary payments while the building is repaired to standard.

If the factory owner refuses to suspend manufacturing, Company members of the Accord are obligated to withdraw their business.  Where this results in termination of workers’ jobs, Companies will make reasonable efforts to ensure these workers are offered preferential hiring processes for employment through other factories that supply them.

In signing the Accord, Companies demonstrate their commitment to continue sourcing from Bangladesh for at least the five year period of the Accord.

We urge all brands to join the Accord as it provides a tripartite, transparent, and robust governance structure and mechanism.  However, we are committed to working with all relevant stakeholders including members of the Alliance, to ensure a safe and sustainable Bangladeshi Ready Made Garment industry.

The Accord structure takes into account that different Companies, regardless of their overall size, source in different volumes from Bangladesh. This is reflected in the membership cost for Companies.

All Companies have equal voting rights and election opportunities for representation on the various working groups of the Accord.

The Fair Factories Clearinghouse (FFC) provides a secure platform for sharing and analysing factory information submitted by Companies.  In addition, the FFC will host and develop an online tool for Companies to access factory-based data.

Unauthorised sub-contracting is one of the many recognised challenges for the Accord and it is impossible for the Accord alone to end the practice of unauthorised subcontracting. Where factories of unauthorised subcontractors are identified and confirmed as supplying an Accord signatory, they will be subject to the same process of inspection as primary suppliers.