BENTONVILLE - Wal-Mart Stores Inc.’s third-party experts assigned to inspect the 279 garment factories the retailer uses in Bangladesh have completed the initial inspection on 16 facilities so far and found “no safety threats that would … require their closure during remediation,” a Wal-Mart spokesman said Monday.

“The factory then has 30 days to complete remedial actions, and will then be reinspected. Wal-Mart will be posting these final results in the coming weeks,” said Kevin Gardner, senior director of international corporate affairs for Wal-Mart.

In April, a building containing several garment factories making goods for European and American brands and companies dropped from beneath workers in Bangladesh’s Rana Plaza, killing some 1,100 people, mostly young women. Bangladesh is the world’s second-leading garment maker and exporter, next to China.

Less than a month after the building collapse, Wal-Mart - tied to the disaster through an unauthorized subcontractor - said it would conduct in-depth safety inspections at all of the factories in its private label and direct supply chain. Reviews are to be conducted during a six-month period, followed by the public release of the names and inspection information on all the factories on the company’s website.

Also in May, Wal-Mart said it began more rigorous inspections earlier this year and posted on its company website a roster of failed factories with which they will no longer do business. Wal-Mart began thinning its supply list of untrustworthy suppliers as far back as 2011.

The independent nonprofit media outlet ProPublica reported last week that Wal-Mart has continued to receive large shipments from at least two banned factories: Mars Apparels of Chittagong, which Wal-Mart blacklisted in June 2011, and girls’ dress-maker Simco Dresses Ltd. of Dhaka, which the company took off its approved list in January

Gardner, the Wal-Mart spokesman, told ProPublica the Mars shipment of sports bras was for Fruit of the Loom, though it was headed to Wal-Mart, so there was some confusion over whether Wal-Mart’s criteria applied. The retailer said it took the shipments from Simco because the order was already in the pipeline.

During the last year, Mars sent at least 22 shipments totaling 80 tons of sports bras through the Port of Newark, according to customs records compiled by Import Genius, a data consultant for the import export industry, according to the ProPublica piece. In each case, the customer was listed as “Walmart Stores” and the product marked as “Ariela-Alpha International,” whose brands include L.e.i. and Fruit of the Loom. Initial information for ProPublica’s report, derived from customs records, came from Making Change at Walmart, an an affiliate of the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union.

“Over the past months,we’ve taken a number of actions that meet or exceed other factory safety proposals,” reiterated Gardner. “These include strengthening safety standards for factories, initiating and enforcing a zero-tolerance policy for unauthorized subcontracting, posting all red-failed factories in Bangladesh publicly on our corporate website to drive greater transparency in our supply chain, and requiring in-depth safety audits and remediations to every factory directly producing product for us in Bangladesh, reflected in the cost of the goods that we buy.”

Jay Jorgensen, Wal-Mart’s chief compliance officer, has said Bureau Veritas, the agency hired by Wal-Mart to conduct the ongoing inspections,sends in a small team of engineers to conduct fire, electrical and structural reviews at the factories. Each safety audit can take up to 20 days to complete at a cost that can exceed $10,000 per factory.

Posthaste after the deadly April collapse of Rana Plaza, dozens of major European retailers and a few from the U.S. put together and signed off on the Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh. The agreement demands a five year commitment from participating retailers to conduct independent safety inspections of factories and pay up to $500,000 per year toward safety improvements. Signees include Marks & Spencer, Carrefour, Swedish retailer H&M and Italian fashion house Benetton.

U.S. retailers who signed include Abercrombie & Fitch and PVH, the parent company of Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger. Wal-Mart and Gap Inc. are among those who didn’t sign, citing a provision that could allow victims of future factory accidents to sue the companies in U.S. courts.

Instead, Wal-Mart and others are working with the Washington, D.C.-based Bipartisan Policy Center to come up with their own agreement for a unified safety plan to improve worker conditions in Bangladeshi garment factories. The group recently had its second meeting with input from the representatives from the U.S. and Bangladesh governments, workers rights organizations and the safety industry. Goals for the coalition include funding for the regulations it intends to put into place. A plan is expected sometime in July.

Business, Pages 21 on 06/18/2013