| Summary: | The Better Work Program has its roots in
the Better Factories Cambodia (BFC) program,
established in 2001 as a follow-on from the 1999
U.S.-Cambodia Bilateral Trade Agreement. The
free trade agreement (FTA) was the first to link
improved labor conditions with greater market
access. The BFC program benefitted all the key
stakeholders by improving work conditions,
supporting the growth of the apparel sector in
Cambodia (benefitting all local stakeholders),
and boosting developed world buyers’ reputation
by sourcing from ethical workplaces. BFC
has also helped to cushion the negative effects
of external changes to the trading environment
in the apparel sector (the end of the Multi-Fibre
Arrangement quota system in 2005 and the global
financial crisis in 2008–09). The program has
grown substantially; as of December 2014, BW
has reached over a million workers in more than
1,000 factories across eight countries (Bangladesh,
Cambodia, Haiti, Indonesia, Jordan, Lesotho,
Nicaragua, and Vietnam).
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