By Kristi Ellis
“It is not that every company sources in Bangladesh or that every brand and retailer has substantial sourcing out of Bangladesh, but the North American industry’s response and the effort to improve the compliance environment in Bangladesh is going to continue to be one of the major issues for the rest of this year and beyond,” said Julia Hughes, president of the U.S. Association of Importers of Textiles and Apparel. “I think what the tragedies this past year have shown is that there are no fast or easy solutions to the problems to bring compliance in Bangladesh up to the standards of American brands and retailers. That is huge. That is the elephant in the room.”