BGMEA bars voting for members using BKMEA services

Garment factories holding dual membership of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) and the Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA) will lose their voting rights in BGMEA elections if they do not obtain all services from BGMEA.

Members approved the proposal at an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) at BGMEA’s Uttara office in Dhaka today (26 September).

“If a member has dual membership and does not take all services from BGMEA, it will retain its BGMEA membership but will not have voting rights in elections. The members present collectively took this decision,” BGMEA Vice President Mijanur Rahman told TBS.

If implemented, the decision could affect around 135 factories with dual membership that currently obtain some services from BKMEA instead of BGMEA.

Members without factories will also lose their voting rights, Mijanur said. However, those exporting through subcontracting orders will retain their voting rights if they can provide supporting documents, he added.

One of the key services provided by the associations is approving entitlements or issuing utility declarations (UDs) for importing raw materials for export-orientated production. Members pay a service charge for each UD.

“Those who do not take services from us come to us when they face problems with their factories. This cannot continue in the long run,” Mijanur said.

BGMEA has around 2,200 active members, while BKMEA has about 800, according to association sources. Around 150 companies hold membership in both organisations, with about 135 obtaining UD services from BKMEA.

As a result, around 135 factories could lose their voting rights once the decision takes effect.

No split between two associations, BKMEA says

The decision has raised questions about whether it could create divisions between the two sister organisations.

BKMEA Executive President Fazlee Shamim Ehsan said it would not. “This decision should not create a division between us. We will remain united in the interests of the sector, as we have in the past,” he told TBS.

BKMEA leaders said the organisation had taken a similar decision around two decades ago.

BGMEA elections typically feature two panels, including the Forum, which currently leads the BGMEA board.

The decision has also prompted questions about whether it is linked to the electoral equation.

A BGMEA leader involved in the decision dismissed the speculation. BKMEA leaders also said the votes of members who could be affected are not concentrated in any particular panel and that it would therefore be inaccurate to attribute the decision solely to electoral calculations.