The Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety, a platform of North American retailers that sets timeframes and accountability for safety inspections and training and workers’ empowerment programmes, recently conveyed to the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) that it will not extend its tenure after its expiry in mid-2018.

This is in contrast to a June decision taken by another platform of European retailers, the Accord on Fire and Building Safety, to extend its tenure in Bangladesh for three more years until 2021. Accord’s tenure will also expire in July 2018.

"We expect to complete our programme on schedule at the end of five years in country. We may continue to work in country for a short period of time to ensure a smooth transition of our safety responsibilities to a Bangladesh-centred entity, but do not have any plans to stay on beyond the end of 2018," James F Moriarty, country director of Alliance told BGMEA in an email, according to media reports in Bangladesh.

Both Accord and Alliance were formed in 2013 after the Rana Plaza building collapse that killed more than 1,100 garment workers. A move has been initiated by the BGMEA to form a separate platform, called Shonman, to be administered by the prime minister's office to look into the post-2018 safety activities in the readymade garments sector.

Accord and Alliance have inspected fire, electrical and structural integrity in around 1,600 and 700 garment factories respectively.