The government has reiterated its stance of not extending the tenure of two Western retailers' platforms -- the Accord and the Alliance -- beyond December 2018.

The two foreign inspection agencies were formed after the Rana Plaza building collapse in 2013 for five years to improve workplace safety in the readymade garment (RMG) sector.

The Remediation Coordination Cell (RCC) formed by the government will take over the responsibility of the Accord and the Alliance after their tenure ends.

The capacity of RCC has been strengthened enough in the meantime to carry out the safety activities, two ministers said on Tuesday.

They also advocated increasing the prices of apparel, saying that the entrepreneurs have spent a huge amount of money on safety and other compliance-related issues.

Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed said, "We have already extended the tenure of the Accord and the Alliance for six months as an interim period. It will expire on December 7."

"After December, no extension will be allowed," he said while speaking at a workshop held at a city hotel.

RCC would be able to oversee the factory remediation activities quite efficiently after the tenure of the two foreign agencies ends, he added.

Referring to the sustainability compact review meeting held in Geneva last month, the minister said the government has informed the compact partners of RCC's capability to look after the workplace safety issues.

The labour ministry organised the workshop on 'Capacity building of RCC: Sharing progress and the way forward'.

State Minister for Labour Mujibul Haque Chunnu and labour secretary Afroza Khan, among others, were also present.

Apparel sector leaders, labour leaders, foreign diplomats, representatives of the Accord, the Alliance and the International Labour Organisation attended the event.

Citing a High Court verdict on the continuation of the Accord and the Alliance for six months, Tofail said, "We can't go against the verdict of the High Court."

A press conference was held after the workshop at the same venue where State Minister for Labour Mujibul Haque Chunnu reiterated the same stance on the tenure of the Accord and the Alliance.

About various steps taken to enhance the capacity of RCC, he said a total of 60 engineers have been recruited for RCC.

Seven more engineers have joined RCC through the ILO, which will provide 40 more engineers, he added.

The detailed engineering assessment (DEA) would be carried out smoothly once all the engineers are recruited, said the state minister.

"The Accord and the Alliance have sought extension of time. But why would we extend the tenure?" he questioned.

"We don't feel the necessity of allowing further extension as the government is ready in all respects to carry out safety activities," he said.

There has been no major accident since the Rana Plaza building collapse, he said.

"I can assure you that there would be no more incidents like Rana Plaza in Bangladesh," he added.

The tenure of the Accord and the Alliance which expired in July this year has been extended until December 07.