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.

Under the Accord, Companies are responsible for ensuring sufficient funds are available to pay for structural repairs or renovations.  This includes negotiating commercial terms with suppliers to ensure that it is financially feasible for factories to maintain safe workplaces and comply with any structural repairs or safety improvements, and where appropriate, the use of alternative means such as joint investments, loans, accessing donor or government support.

In September 2014, the Accord completed the initial inspections of 1103 RMG factories producing for Accord signatory companies. A new round of initial inspections of factories that were added by signatory companies after August 2014 have started in January 2015. The Accord will continue to inspect any new factories added to its list of factories.

The Accord is conducting follow up inspections at all factories to verify safety improvements. We plan 2-3 visits to each factory to verify all issues.

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.