Blockchain data
Bangladeshi suppliers have already started working with technology companies to get ready for the changes.
Ahmed has partnered with Aware, a Dutch firm working with several fashion suppliers, using decentralised blockchain to record relevant data as fabric becomes a finished garment.
A manufacturer inputs key pieces of data – perhaps yarn count, water consumption or colour – and Aware’s blockchain-based platform then generates a QR code for consumers.
“The manufacturers will have control over what they disclose to their brands and consumers – as we want to give the manufacturers ownership of data,” said Md. Muyeed Hasan, Bangladesh country manager at Aware.
Cotton ginners, washers and dye factories, as well as the makers of finished garments, will all upload any relevant data and certificates to their digital profiles, then must add details about each batch of production in real time.
Claims about energy and water usage will be verified by third parties, he told Context.
Scaling capacity
The passport may require Bangladesh’s smaller garment makers to upgrade their hardware and software capacity as well as how they manage their data, said Ibrahim from the Newage Group.
Smaller manufacturers make up a large share of Bangladesh’s roughly 3,320 export-oriented apparel factories, according to Mapped in Bangladesh, a project developed by BRAC University in the Bangladeshi capital.
British-based DigiProdPass has partnered with Bangladesh’s garment manufacturers’ association BGMEA to help smaller producers meet the new passport requirements.
Salauddin Sohag, managing director of DigiProdPass, said his company is rolling out pilot studies and plans to train smaller businesses to help them adapt.
“Suppliers will need support from global fashion brands and development organisations to upgrade their capacity – while the government should incentivise the early adopters,” said Ibrahim.
This story was published with permission from Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers humanitarian news, climate change, resilience, women’s rights, trafficking and property rights. Visit https://www.context.news/.
