Law on Food Adulteration
Punishment reduced in changed draft
The cabinet yesterday approved a new food safety law with lesser punishments than had been proposed initially for food adulterators.
The food safety law, which will replace the Pure Food Ordinance, 1959, was approved with a provision of only five years’ imprisonment or Tk5 lakh or both for persons guilty of food adulteration.
On July 1, the cabinet had agreed in principle to the draft of the law, which envisaged a sentence of either seven years’ imprisonment or a fine of Tk10 lakh or both for mixing life-threatening chemicals in foods. It was also agreed that if anyone repeated the offence, the punishment would double.
Initially, the draft had proposed the death penalty for such offences. But later the punishment was lowered on recommendations from different stakeholders.
Food ministry officials confirmed that in between the July 1 meeting and yesterday’s meeting of the cabinet, the draft of the new food law went through a vetting process in the law ministry. But they could not confirm the reasons for lessening the punishments.
The food safety law has also a provision for the setting up of a unified authority, Bangladesh Food Safety Authority (BFSA), to fight food adulteration and take care of other food related concerns of consumers. It proposed forming as many food courts as deemed necessary to prosecute adulterators.
The law proposed controlling the use of various toxic chemicals, formalin, DDT, etc, in food items to ensure quality of food from farm-to-fork, from production to packaging and distribution.
The law will replace the existing system of food quality control that involves as many as 15 ministries and their agencies, said ministry sources.
The draft proposed the formation of a National Pure Food Management Advisory Council, headed by the food minister and comprised of members from different ministries and government, private and academic organisations.
Besides, it proposed forming the BFSA comprising a chairman and five members.
-With The Daily Star input
