Both the International Accord and the Bangladesh Safety Agreement officially took effect on 1 November 2023. Credit: Shutterstock

Signatories of the new International Accord include adidas, ASOS, Primark, H&M, Inditex, Ted Baker, Mango and Marks and Spencer.

A number of additional brands are currently undergoing internal reviews and are anticipated to join the International Accord in the coming days, further expanding the roster of committed entities.

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Renewed for an extended three-year term, with an automatic renewal for an additional three years, this commitment represents the lengthiest Accord commitment to date.

The development comes after the Clean Clothes Campaign criticised several brands yesterday (12 December) including furniture retail company, IKEA and French sporting goods retailer Decathlon for failing to sign the International Accord, adding that these companies are “denying their workers access to the Accord’s training and complaint mechanism, and instead, relying on less rigorous social auditing methods, perpetuating risks to workers’ safety”.

The Accord community is now extending an invitation to all garment and textile brands and retailers sourcing from Bangladesh and Pakistan to join the growing list of Accord signatories.

The call is to re-sign not only the new International Accord but also the Bangladesh Safety Agreement and the Pakistan Accord, thereby reaffirming the collective commitment to the mission of a safe and sustainable textile and garment industry.

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The International Accord aims to serve as the overarching framework for implementing the Accord’s Country-Specific Safety Programmes (CSSPs) currently operational in Bangladesh and Pakistan.

The agreement also allows for the adaptation of these safety programmes to future initiatives in other garment-producing nations, facilitated through separate agreements as CSSP Addendums to the International Accord.

Simultaneously, brands and trade unions have collaboratively crafted the new Bangladesh Safety Agreement, aimed at bolstering health and safety standards within the Bangladeshi garment industry and overseen by the RMG Sustainability Council.

Both the International Accord and the Bangladesh Safety Agreement officially came into effect on 1 November 2023.

Preceding these accords, signatories of the Accord established the Pakistan Accord in December 2022, with an initial term of three years starting on 1 January 2023.

In November, The Fair Labor Association (FLA) partnered with sustainable organisations, Amfori, Ethical Trading Initiative, Fair Wear, and Mondiaal FNV to seek a reconsideration of the decision made by the minimum wage board for garment workers in Bangladesh.