Draft Formalin Control Law on the card
The draft Formalin Control Law-2013 will be placed before the cabinet shortly with provision of tough punishment for indiscriminate use of the toxic chemical with foodstuffs.
“We have prepared the draft of the law and will send it to the cabinet next week for its approval to check indiscriminate use of formalin.” Commerce Secretary Mahbub Ahmed told The New Nation over phone on Friday.
” We will make recommendations to the government for incorporating severe punishment for random use of formalin. The recommendations of the draft law include unauthorised possession, use, production and trading in formalin will lead to a maximum of 10 years’ rigorous imprisonment and imposition of fine amounting to TK. 5.0 lakh,” he said.
Referring to the objective of the law, Mahbub Ahmed further said , ” We want to bring industrial and commercial use of formalin under a discipline.”
The punishment will be double for offenders for repeating the same crime under the proposed draft law, he said adding there was no import of the toxic chemical in last one year but its use continued. Only recently one company was given import permission of formalin, he said.
Expressing concern over widespread use of formalin in foodstuffs, he said the Department of Consumers Rights would monitor the matter at national level. Besides, committees at district and Uapzila levels have also been formed to monitor production, import and illegal use of formalin. The district level committee is headed by Deputy Commissioner (DC) while Upazila level committee is headed by Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO).
The draft formalin control law-2013 has been prepared in the backdrop of widespread use of the toxic chemical by the traders is recent years as a preservative in fish, fruits, meat, milk, vegetables and a wide variety of food items.
Consumption of formalin laced food items, according to medical scientists, may cause deadly diseases like cancers and liver cirrhosis, asthma and kidney damage.
About 40-50 per cent fish, meat, milk, rice, pulse, edible oil, spice and salt are adulterated with pesticides like aldrin, DDT, heptachlor and heavy metals like lead and arsenic, according to a recently conducted research finding by National Food Safety Laboratory of the Institute of Public Health (IPH). It found 2990 food samples out of 5759 adulterated after laboratory tests couple of years ago.
The IPH tests conducted this year found 187 food samples out of 377 adulterated, Abdus Sobhan, secretary, Save the Environment Movement told the media. Excessive use of toxic chemicals like formalin, calcium carbide, sodium cyclamate and hydrose in different food items including fruits, fish, poultry birds and other food items, has become a matter of grave concern in recent years.
Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institute (BSTI) and law enforcers were asked by the High Court (HC) in an order in February last year to monitor fruit depots across the country regularly to stop storage or sale of contaminated fruits. The HC also asked the police authority to file criminal cases under the Special Powers act, 1974 against those using chemicals to ripen or preserve fruits and market those to consumers.
The HC verdict was issued upon a petition filed by the Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh (HRPB). The HC also asked the National Board of Revenue (NBR) and the Customs to monitor land and sea ports to ensure that contaminated fruits could not enter the country.
In rural areas, the farmers use poisonous pesticides and harmful chemical fertilizers in their crop fields. In the process a variety of vegetables at growers level get contaminated in the field, informed circle said adding the source of contamination should also be brought under monitoring. They said, checking adulteration of prepared food in which harmful chemicals or dyes have been mixed without addressing the source of contamination, the desired result could not be expected.
The US made Digital Formaldehide Meter, formalin kits of Environment Directorate and formalin-testing chemicals of Bangladesh Standard and Testing Institute (BSTI) are being used to make anti-adulteration drive effective, Commerce Minister GM Quader said.
The government, he said, has realised Tk 3.5 crore from 2545 commercial organisations for mixing toxic chemical in food and Tk 18 lakh for mixing in fruits as compensation until June 23, this year. The government normally undertook legal actions under Pure Food Ordinance, 1959 against mixing toxic substance in food and Dhaka City Corporation and BSTI are responsible to implement the ordinance.
-With The New Nation input
