The Walt Disney Company has announced they will stop manufacturing products in high risk countries, including Bangladesh, in efforts to stoke up standards of safety.
They will also cease production in four other countries-Ecuador, Belarus, Pakistan and Venezuela-by April 2014, reports CNN.
Disney pulled their employees from at-risk locations one week before a factory building crumbled to the ground in Bangladesh, leaving more than 400 dead.
A fire at Bangladesh's Tazreen Fashions Factory that occurred in November and killed 112 people, along with an additional fire in Pakistan that left 262 garment workers dead last September, prompted Disney's decision.
According to President of Disney Consumer Products Bob Chapek, it was important to ensure the company was producing merchandise in an environment up to safety snuff.
"After much thought and discussion we felt this was the most responsible way to manage the challenges associated with our supply chain," he told CNN.
He also said that their decision to remove factories was based on a World Bank report that looks at how governments run their countries in the scope of corruption, violence and accountability. Those five countries ranked low on the scale, pushing Disney to remove itself.
Plus, Disney only has about 1% of their factories in Bangladesh. The other four countries have even less production locations-moving out of those areas won't put an enormous dent in their budget.
The company claims it will continue sourcing from countries that also didn't receive high marks like Haiti and Cambodia, but since these locations are partnered up with the Better Work program operated by the International Labor Organization and the International Finance Corporation, Disney's reputation won't be as tarnished by working with them.
Disney will rethink returning to Bangladesh if the factories agree to joining forces with the Better Work program.
