News – Bangladesh
The government of Bangladesh is responding to the desire of European buyers of leather products to cease importing goods that are not produced in countries that meet their standards of environmental responsibility by warning factories to speed up their relocation.
The Industries Ministry has warned that companies must move their operations to Savar Tannery Park within the stipulated deadline of December 2014 or risk losing their allotment. Some operators have begun moving their assets to the site, but others have expressed concerns that delays were, in some cases, due to the fact that plant designs had not been approved, nor building codes issued to allow them to begin the relocation process.
Bangladesh Small and Cottage Industries Corporation (BSCIC) states that around 100 tanneries have filed designs for facilities at the new site and that over 200 plots in Savar Tannery Park have already been allocated.