The Walt Disney Company has stopped production of branded merchandise in Bangladesh, in response to the spate of fatal factory accidents last fall. Disney will also halt production in four other countries: Ecuador, Venezuela, Belarus and Pakistan, by April 2014.
The company sent a letter in March to vendors and licensees to transition production out of the "highest-risk countries," like Bangladesh, in order to bolster safety standards in its supply chain.
The decision was made before last week's devastating collapse of a factory building in Bangladesh that left more than 400 people dead. It was prompted by the November fire at the Tazreen Fashions Factory in Bangladesh's capital Dhaka that killed 112 people, and another fire in Pakistan that killed 262 garment workers last September.
"After much thought and discussion we felt this was the most responsible way to manage the challenges associated with our supply chain," said Bob Chapek, president of Disney Consumer Products.
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