Dhaka:
Bangladesh has shut down 18 garment plants for safety reasons after a building housing five garment factories collapsed last month and killed more than 800 people, a minister said on Wednesday.
The move comes days after Bangladesh agreed with the International Labour Organisation to give safety "the highest consideration" amid government fears Western garment firms might source goods elsewhere.
"Sixteen factories have been closed down in Dhaka and two in Chittagong," textile minister Abdul Latif Siddique told reporters, adding that more plants would be shut as part of strict new measures to ensure safety.
"We'll ensure ILO standards in terms of compliance," said Siddique, who heads a newly created high-powered panel to inspect the country's 4,500 garment factories in an effort to avoid fresh disasters.
"We have seen that those who claim to be the best compliant factories in Bangladesh have not fully abided by building regulations," he added.
The confirmed death toll from Bangladesh's worst industrial disaster hit 803 Wednesday as rescuers pulled dozens more bodies from the rubble of the nine-storey building that collapsed outside Dhaka last month.
The Rana Plaza complex turned out clothing for Western retailers such as Britain's Primark and the Spanish label Mango.
The move comes days after Bangladesh agreed with the International Labour Organisation to give safety "the highest consideration" amid government fears Western garment firms might source goods elsewhere.
"Sixteen factories have been closed down in Dhaka and two in Chittagong," textile minister Abdul Latif Siddique told reporters, adding that more plants would be shut as part of strict new measures to ensure safety.
"We'll ensure ILO standards in terms of compliance," said Siddique, who heads a newly created high-powered panel to inspect the country's 4,500 garment factories in an effort to avoid fresh disasters.
"We have seen that those who claim to be the best compliant factories in Bangladesh have not fully abided by building regulations," he added.
The confirmed death toll from Bangladesh's worst industrial disaster hit 803 Wednesday as rescuers pulled dozens more bodies from the rubble of the nine-storey building that collapsed outside Dhaka last month.
The Rana Plaza complex turned out clothing for Western retailers such as Britain's Primark and the Spanish label Mango.
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