Brussels, 13/05/2013 (Agence Europe) - According to several media, the Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI) - the alliance of textile retailers and distributors - is expected to unveil a code of conduct on 15 May on the safety of industrial buildings housing textile workshops in Bangladesh.
As well as Marks & Spencer and GAP, ETI includes the British distributor, Primark, to which was linked one of the garments workshops that was in the building that collapsed in Bangladesh at the end of April. The tragic death toll of the collapse of the Rana Plaza in Savar, in the suburbs of Dacca, the capital, stood at 1,125 on Sunday - after the discovery of 15 more bodies in the rubble.
The Rana Plaza building, which housed five garments workshops linked to the Spanish label, Mango, to the British labels, Primark and Matalan, and to the Italian label, Benetton, had illegally been made three floors higher and did not respect safety standards.
Besides tangible action from the Bangladeshi authorities, with a very clear and immediate time schedule, at the risk of an investigation that could lead to the suspension of EU trade preferences as part of the Everything but Arms mechanism, European Commissioner for Trade Karel De Gucht is calling for a code of conduct from the European and American clients of the textile factories in Bangladesh, binding them to observe strict standards on the health and safety of workers (see EUROPE 10841). (EH/transl.fl)