By the term Social Responsibility we generally understand that industry has some responsibilities to the society where we live or operate our business. That somewhat means that we should work in a way that will not reduce the limited natural resources, so that our future generations are not negatively affected and that the resources do not become depleted due to their overuse. This also means that businesses are now generally expected to contribute some portion of their profits for the common well being of the people in the local community where they are working.

 Why has this issue come into the picture? It is suggested that global consumers may now want to see the people who are the main force for the production of the commodity, also getting some portion of the added value that is being given to the business concern in exchange for that commodity. The following will give some idea about the changes in the purchasing natures of the consumers:

1. In 1970’s: Price was the main denominator (Quota was also important).



2. In 1980’s: Denominators were Price  plus Quality (Quota was also important)



3. In 1990’s: Denominators were Price  plus Quality plus Environment           



4. In 2000’s: All above with Social Compliance as the current main factor

It is generally believed, that consumers agree  when price and quality are equal for any commodity, they are more likely to buy products associated with a good cause. A majority of shoppers have indicated that they frequently buy or boycott products because of the manufacturer’s reputation. The majority of customers are concerned to see that a company’s commitment to social responsibility is important. This commitment indicates that the majority of consumers who are in the developed countries are more likely to buy a product from manufacturers who are engaged in the activities that help improve society.

In view of the above, the consumers of the European, American, Scandinavian and or French origin have come together to form common platforms such as Initiative Clause Sociale-ICS, Business Social Compliance Initiative-BSCI, Sedex Members Ethical Trade Audit-SMETA andWorldwide Responsible Accredited Production-WRAP. Tthe members of these platforms have collectively agreed and or decided that they will be expecting and ensuring that their suppliers follow all the rules and regulations of the country where their suppliers are operating their business or manufacturing their production. Henceforth the importers or the buyers depending upon their country of origin also adopted some Standards or Codes of Conduct in order to ensure that their suppliers are following the local law of the country and they also developed some procedures to monitor their suppliers periodically.

It is probably appropriate at this point to mention here that there is a common misconception about these standards or Code of Conducts, such as, ICS audits, BSCI audits, SMETA audits and WRAP audits, which are asking the manufacturer to do some difficult tasks. It is believed that these tasks have been added on the basis of these members for their own purpose but this misconception needs to be eliminated from our minds.

Whereas, the expectations of these standards or Codes of Conduct, are to monitor whether the suppliers/manufacturers are meeting all the local legal requirements of the country as an absolute minimum. This means the main aim of these standards is to monitor the current status of the factory and to see that they are improving gradually over a period of time, in meeting the local legal requirement of the country. The members of these platforms want to see and feel that their suppliers are being pro-active in improving their compliance with the local law. The usual requirements are mainly focused on the following issues:

1. Child labour



2. Forced labour



3. Discrimination



4. Disciplinary practices, harassment or ill treatments



5. Freedom of association



6. Working hours



7. Wages and benefits



8. Health, Safety



9. Environmental Issues

All of the major importers and retailers of the world, particularly those who are engaged in the textile sector globally, have specific requirements of monitoring their business partners. These requirements indicate whether their suppliers are meeting the local laws relevant to the above issues. This type of monitoring and auditing started more than 15 years ago and now almost all of the leading brands are doing business in terms of meeting this requirement.

The textile industry in Bangladesh is aware of these requirements and they are gradually becoming very serious about the compliance issues, which will show their commitments toward social responsibility policies and procedures. In general, the leading textile and garment manufacturers have established their own in-house department, which they refer to as the “Compliance Department”. This is normally managed by a senior manager who reports directly to senior management. This ensures that the senior management can intervene immediately to correct any issues which appear to form a bottle neck to become compliant to the local laws and the retailers standards.

Nevertheless, the compliance part of the social responsibility is now in the limelight, but still there is a need that Bangladesh Industry make their work places and the working environments including the community, more compatible with the relevant Bangladeshi country laws, so that all the different elements of society get serious in becoming sustainable through our continuous monitoring and commitment from the top. We are sure that the Bangladesh business community is exerting their maximum effort to fight the odds in order to keep our society in a condition that can be enjoyed by our children and their children. However, we still need to have more industries, factories in the list of compliant factories by arranging social audits to monitor their compliance status.