BANGLADESH: Garment sector in for further setbacks
BharatTextile.com (subscription), India
DHAKA:There are hundreds of cases pending in the Bangladeshi courts between the foreign buyers and Bangladeshi garment owners. These cases are for cheating the buyers by supplying substandard goods, sending less quantity of goods, and not paying outstanding dues.
The national Readymade Garment (RMG) industry faces boycott from the buyers as they have shifted to neighbouring countries causing the garment sector to loose business worth crores.
Factories often knowingly accept unworkable delivery dates fearing that otherwise they will lose the order to competition. This results in supplying substandard goods to the buyer. Almost all shipments from Bangladesh are delayed from the due date.Contrary to Bangladesh the European climate is seasonal and goods received late are often difficult to sell. The Bangladeshi suppliers do not look at the delivery date as important clause of the contract.
Since there is no quality control, difficult banking system regarding L/C, bureaucratic obstacle over deducting agreed discount from the payment it’s difficult for the foreign buyers fo continue.
Since the manufacturing is done in haste there is no quality control.Many toimes it found that, goods with bad smell to the garments,yellow garments instead of off white colour, and goods with no legal composition label on each piece are shipped.
European buyers rightly or wrongly analyse these as a lack of reliability of supply over-delivery, quality, possibility of retrieval of claims – from Bangladesh, and despite GSP advantage it is finally safer and easier to purchase from other sources especially China even at a moderately increased cost.
This is resulting in the European buyers looking for alternative markets.
