The hub will support garment factories in strengthening their capacities to adapt and comply with new regulations and reporting requirements with regard to due diligence and sustainability.

It will serve as an information centre, raising awareness and providing guidance to readymade garment (RMG) manufacturers in the country on the standards and requirements of human rights and environmental due diligence.

Manufacturers and labour union leaders urged buyers at the launching event to practise ethical buying practices in their supply chain as responsible business is possible only when buyers and consumers change their mindset apart from manufacturers, which account for only 20 per cent of the apparel supply chain.

Bangladeshi apparel manufacturers face uneven competition with non-compliant exporters, he mentioned, BKMEA vice president Fazlee Shamim Ehsan said.

"When buyers source from China, they don't care about compliance but despite maintaining all compliance Bangladeshi exporters do not get the ethical prices for sustainable products," was quoted as saying by media outlets in the country.

“When we talked about the emerging due diligence, there are too many laws and regulations getting passed every day regarding the same issue. We need a unified principle-based legislation which is accepted by all the players in the global supply chain," BGMEA vice president Shahidullah Azim said.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)