One step forward or more window-dressing? A legal analysis of the recent CSR Initiatives in the Garment Industry in Bangladesh

The Bangladesh ready-made garment industry has recently been affected by a number of terrible accidents, with the collapse of the Rana Plaza on 24 April 2013 as the deadliest garment-factory accident ever known. Under the pressure of renewed attention to the role and responsibilities of multinational corporations (MNCs) take responsibility for what happens in those factories, two initiatives have been adopted. These initiatives involve leading brands of European origin and North-American origin. With these initiatives the MNCs claim to strengthen their corporate social responsibility (CSR) regarding those factories. From a regulatory perspective, they represent cases of transnational private regulation (TPR). Although CSR and TPR have become increasingly popular, these initiatives have been perceived with mixed enthusiasm, since they are adopted in a legal vacuum. Consequently, they raise questions about their legal status, their legitimacy and their implementation and compliance mechanisms. These same questions will be discussed in this article concerning the Bangladesh initiatives, in order to discern if they have the potential to contribute to improving safety and working conditions in the Bangladeshi garment industry, or if they are rather forms of window-dressing.