"Alliance announces end of its tenure", 14 December 2018

Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety has announced end of its tenure in Bangladesh. The platform of North American fashion brands and retailers also said that from the beginning of 2019 the brands would engage a local company to monitor safety in the factories from which they procure products...According to [Alliance's fifth and final] report, 93 per cent of faults identified in [its affiliated] factories were corrected, while 428 factories completed 100 per cent remediation works. The Alliance terminated 178 factories from its compliant factory list because of their lack of progress in ensuring a safe working condition...

Following the Rana Plaza building collapse in April 24, 2013, that killed more than 1,100 people, mostly garment workers, North American buyers and retailers formed the Alliance undertaking a five-year plan, which set timeframes and accountability for inspections, trainings and worker empowerment programmes in Bangladesh’s readymade garment sector...‘Beginning in 2019, most Alliance member brands plan to work through a locally-based organisation to collectively monitor safety in the factories from which they source. Safety must always be an ongoing effort— and for our member brands, it will remain a top priority long beyond the Alliance’s departure,’ [the Alliance Executive Director] said...After Rana Plaza building collapse, European brands and retailers also formed another platform namely Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh. The initiative inspected more than 1,600 factories and completed over 90 per cent of remediation works in the units. Accord wanted more time to stay in Bangladesh as its tenure ended and the issue remained pending in court.