A meeting was held between the Directorate of Factories and Establishments Inspection and BGMEA on the renewal of ready-made garment factory licenses and industry-friendly solutions
A meeting was held between the Inspector General (Additional Secretary) of the Directorate of Factories and Establishments Inspection (DIFE) and BGMEA leaders on the renewal of ready-made garment factory licenses, the reality of SME factories and industry-friendly solutions.
The meeting held at Shram Bhaban under the leadership of BGMEA Senior Vice President Enamul Haque Khan was attended by BGMEA Vice President Mohammad Rafiq Chowdhury, Joint Inspector General of the Directorate of Factories and Establishments Inspection Md. Matiur Rahman and other concerned officials.
At the meeting, BGMEA leaders congratulated the newly appointed Inspector General Md. Farhad Siddique and wished him success in ensuring the development of the industrial sector and a labor-friendly environment.
During the exchange of views, Senior Vice President Enamul Haque Khan said that BGMEA has always respected the factory law and safety policies. A realistic solution is needed to sustain the industry in coordination with RSC, NIRAPON, NAP and other compliance frameworks. He said that if license renewal is stopped, many factories will close, employment will decrease and exports will be negatively affected. Therefore, all concerned will have to work together to ensure compliance improvement by keeping the industry active.
He also said that the current government has taken the initiative to reopen the factories that were closed in the country in the past years in a phased manner. In light of this, he called for taking appropriate measures to reopen the ready-made garment factories that were closed recently for various reasons. He said that BGMEA will provide all kinds of cooperation to the government in this regard.
BGMEA Vice President Mohammad Rafiq Chowdhury highlighted the current reality regarding the renewal of licenses of ready-made garment factories. He mentioned that out of the approximately 1,500 factories under the NAP Monitoring under the supervision of DIFE, approximately 300 factories are currently operating in Dhaka and Chittagong. The license renewal process is becoming complicated due to the condition of 100% Corrective Action Plan (CAP) implementation. Especially since many of the SME factories are operating on a rental basis or in old infrastructure, it is becoming difficult to meet all the compliance parameters immediately.
He further said that considering the reality, it is necessary to give the factories which got the license renewal last year and are continuing the remediation and compliance improvement activities, the opportunity to renew the license conditionally this year. At the same time, he said that BGMEA is already working on a plan to relocate the SME factories to compliance-based industrial zones in a phased manner.
BGMEA leaders said that although the renewal period of factory licenses has been increased from one year to five years through the recent amendment to the Labor Act, renewals for more than one year are still not being made at the field level. In this context, Inspector General Md. Farhad Siddique said that work is already underway on the matter and the five-year renewal will be implemented once the necessary fees and procedural issues are finalized. He further assured that the renewal of factories whose licenses were renewed last year will be considered positively.
He said that where the current government is working to reopen closed factories, DIFE will provide maximum cooperation to keep existing factories operational. He also emphasized that the inspectors of the Department of Inspection of Factories and Establishments should work more guideline-based and coordinated to ensure an industry-friendly environment.
