Tanneries to get ready for LWG inspection by Dec
PM’s adviser says
Tanneries at Savar Tannery Industrial Estate will be ready by December for inspections of Leather Working Group (LWG), as the country looks to obtain certification from the international body to give a boost to exports, an adviser said yesterday.
Salman F Rahman, the adviser to the prime minister on private industry and investment affairs, said, “If we get the certificate from the LWG, the problems facing the leather and leather goods sector in case of exports will be solved and we will be able to earn more from the sector.”
He spoke at a meeting with tanners at the estate. Nurul Majid Mahmud Humayun, industries minister, and Kamal Ahmed Mojumder, state minister for industries, were present.
The UK-based LWG is made up of member brands, retailers, product and leather manufacturers, chemical and machinery suppliers, technical experts and other service providers that work together to maintain environmental stewardship protocols specifically for the leather manufacturing industry.
Obtaining certification from the group is a prerequisite for any country to sell leather and leather goods at international rates.
Bangladeshi leather and leather goods manufacturers are being paid more than 30 percent less by international buyers, especially those from China, because of the absence of the certification owing to poor compliance.
Currently, Bangladesh cannot sell leather and leather goods to European and US customers. As a result, some non-compliant Chinese buyers have become the main customers of Bangladeshi manufacturers.
The local manufacturers who sell leather and leather goods in the European and the US markets have to import tanned leather and manufacture products for export purposes. Speaking on the construction of a central effluent treatment plant (CETP), Rahman said, “There has already been much delay in setting up the CETP.”
On solid waste management, the adviser said currently a company was taking away 20 tonnes of solid waste from the site every day to make other products.
The problem will be resolved as soon as possible by way of setting up permanent solid waste dumping stations and giving land to companies that deal with byproducts, he said.