Italian retailers considering cancelling work orders: Munshi

Some European clothing retailers, especially the ones based in Italy, are mulling over cancelling or deferring work orders from Bangladesh amid a fall in apparel sales because of the coronavirus pandemic, said Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi yesterday.

Italy is the worst-affected European country, where the government ordered closure of all shops, bars and restaurants as its coronavirus-induced death toll surpassed 1,400 on Saturday.

The Western European nation is one of the most important export destinations for Bangladeshi garment items in Europe.

Munshi, however, said the situation has been improving in the supply chain as the workers in China, from where the deadly COVID-19 originated, started going back to factories.

"We are expecting the situation will improve soon. We don't need to be worried."

The minister spoke at a meeting on consumer rights at his secretariat office in Dhaka.

At the meeting, the minister also inaugurated the hotline, 16121, for the National Consumer Rights Protection Department, through which people can lodge complaints in case they face cheating, the commerce ministry said in a statement.

The Consumer Rights Protection Act has not been made to harass anybody, he said. "In case of cheating, anybody can lodge complaints through the hotline."