Poor working conditions and low wages have long been a concern in Bangladesh’s garment industry, which suffered one of the worst industrial accidents in 2013, when more than 1,100 people were killed in the collapse of the Rana Plaza complex.The Bangladesh Accord is a legally-binding agreement between global brands and trade unions to establish a fire and safety programme for the country’s $28 billion a year textile industry.

The accord runs to May 2018, but the government has agreed for it to continue beyond that date until a national regulatory body is ready to take over monitoring, a trade union said Tuesday.“A goal of the accord has always been to transition to a credible regulatory regime by the Bangladeshi government,” said Christy Hoffman, Deputy General Secretary of…