Bjoern Fasterling, a professor of law at EDHEC Business School in Lille, France, looks at the legal reach of the Bangladesh Accord on Fire and Building Safety and the Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety.

The Accord on Fire and Building Safety is regularly held apart from the Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety for its ‘legally binding’ nature. Let there be no mistake about it. Joining the Accord and joining the Alliance are both voluntary actions. However, when retailers become members of the Alliance, they also enter into legally binding commitments with regard to funding and furthering the Alliance’s objectives as they are set out by the Alliance’s bylaws and members’ agreement.