Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI) Bangladesh held a follow-up event on Responsible Purchasing Practices for Manufacturers. The event took place on Saturday, 6 September 2025 in Dhaka.
The session brought together 47 participants from various readymade garments (RMG) factories and ETI. The event focused on turning insight into action, discussing purchasing practices and how to navigate new legislation.
Abu Sufian Ahmed from ETI Bangladesh opened the session. He highlighted the critical role of purchasing practices and human rights due diligence from the factory senior management perspective.
Sharing the purpose of the session, Melissa Karadana, ETI UK’s Purchasing Practices Programme Lead, emphasized the aim of building on last year’s feedback while further strengthening engagement on responsible purchasing practices. She presented ETI’s Purchasing Practice Due Diligence Framework (PP-DD). This framework guides brands on fair production planning, payment terms, and sustainable costing.
Margherita Parodi, Legal Frameworks and General Merchandise Sector Advisor, ETI UK provided expertise on the legislative context. She outlined key EU laws such as the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD), Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), and the EU Forced Labour Regulation. She explained their significance and the concept of mandatory human rights due diligence.
In the group discussion session led by Munir Uddin Shamim, factory representatives talked about their challenges. These include low prices that make it hard to pay living wages, short lead times that increase costs, and the burden of too many audits. They also mentioned overtime, with Bangladesh allowing four hours while the global rule is two.
Participants discussed what data they have to show the impact of purchasing practices, such as wage sheets and order records. They also talked about how to use this evidence to encourage better buyer behaviour and who should be responsible for ensuring fair pricing.
ETI Bangladesh confirmed that supplier feedback is crucial. It will shape ongoing advocacy with brands on responsible purchasing practices. These practices include fair pricing to support living wages, accurate order forecasting, on-time payments, longer lead times, and shared risk management.
The event provided a platform for open discussion between suppliers and ETI. It is part of continued efforts to improve purchasing practices and ensure emerging EU legislations lead to positive change for manufacturers and workers.
