The garment industry in Bangladesh has become the main export sector and a major source of foreign exchange since 1980. It currently exports about $5 billion worth of products each year (Mahmood, 2002). According to Begum (2001), the industry employs about 3 million workers of whom 90% are women. Two non-market factors have played a crucial role in ensuring the garment sector’s continual success namely (a) quotas under Multi- Fibre Arrangement1 (MFA) in the North American market and (b) preferential market access to European markets.
