Promoting Decent Work and Acceptable Working Conditions in the Tannery Sector in Bangladesh: Tannery Sector and its Relocation

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Summary

Prior to the relocation of the tanning industry in Savar, the leather and leather goods sector was portrayed as capable of exporting $5 billion by 2021.The sector was considered to have held a great promise for promoting export diversification and thereby widening the country’s narrow export basket, which is currently dominated by readymade garments (RMG). However, since the relocation of the tanning industry, the export performance of the sector has met with setbacks. The export earnings from leather and leather goods in 2017-18 fell by more than 12 percent to $1.08 billion from $1.23 billion in 2016-17. Although a comprehensive analysis of the reasons for this dismal performance is lacking, disruption in production arising from the relocation of tanneries is widely regarded as a principal reason.

This study, in a broader sense, reveals and analyses two of the most important aspects for the sustainability of the industry in the post-relocation scenario. The first and the most critical of it is ensuring the environmental compliance of the tanneries by implementing a proper effluent treatment system through the operation of CETP, CRU, WTP, and sludge recycling as part of an integrated process. Given the existing condition of CETP and other supporting components, ensuring environmental compliance has currently become a top priority for the sustainability of the industry. The second and another very important challenge has to do with ensuring the welfare of the tannery workers in the post-relocation scenario. On this backdrop, this study has identified the major challenges and laid out a number of recommendations taken from different stakeholders on how to overcome the challenges.

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