H&M and Zara to sign Bangladesh safety accord 14 May 2013 Last updated at 04:35 Retailers in Europe, including Hennes & Mauritz and Inditex which owns Zara, have said they will sign an accord to improve safety conditions in factories in Bangladesh. It comes after a garment factory building collapsed in April, killing more than 1,100 people. However, US firm Gap Inc declined to sign the agreement, throwing its impact into question. Bangladesh is the biggest exporter of clothing after China. Two labour groups are behind the legally-binding agreement, called the Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh. They have set a deadline of 15 May for retailers to sign on. The accord includes regulations on safety inspections and requires retailers to pay for factory repairs. Discount clothing company Primark and UK supermarket chain Tesco have also signed up to the agreement. Sixty percent of Bangladesh's garment exports go to European retailers. US retailer Gap said it would only sign the accord if changes were made to rules on how disputes were resolved. "With this single change, this global, historic agreement can move forward with a group of all retailers, not just those based in Europe," said Eva Sage-Gavin, from Gap's global human resources and corporate affairs department, in a statement. The collapse of the factory was Bangladesh's worst industrial disaster. In the wake of it the government has been taking steps to try and reassure Western buyers. On Monday, it altered the country's labour law to allow garment workers to form unions. Earlier it increased the minimum wage in the sector to $38 (£25) a month, which is still one of the lowest in the world.