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Mandatory standards mark

BSTI restricts sale of 28 products

Doulot Akter Mala | July 12, 2018 00:00:00


The government has prohibited sale, distribution and commercial advertisement of over two dozen products unless those meet certain standards.

State-run Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institution (BSTI) has made compliance with Bangladesh Standard (BDS) mark mandatory for 28 products.

The restrictions would come into force from September 03 next.

The institution made the mark mandatory by issuing two separate gazette notifications dated on July 03.

Currently, the use of BDS mark is mandatory for 166 products.

The number of products will be increased to 194 with the inclusion of 28 new products.

The products include poultry and fish feed, puffed rice (muri), spaghetti, vermicelli, chocolate, chewing gum, facial tissue paper, toilet tissue paper, sanitary towels napkins, skin lotions, baby oil, skin powder, skin creams, lotions and shampoo for babies.

Refillable seamless aluminum alloy gas cylinders and welded steel gas cylinders and seamless steel gas cylinders are also in the list.

Performance of air conditioners and heat pumps-energy labelling and minimum energy performance standard requirements, specification for household refrigerators/freezers, diammonium phosphate, electrical accessories-circuit breakers for over current protection for household and similar installations, electricity metering-payment systems, sanitary tapware-single taps and combination taps for water supply systems, enamel synthetic exterior, emulsion paint and economy emulsion paint have also been brought under the mandatory certification marks scheme.

Currently, some 71 from agricultural and food products, 42 from chemical products, 27 from electrical and electronics products, 15 from engineering products and 11 from jute and textile products have to follow BDS mark.

There are another 55 imported products, which must have to use certification marks of the BSTI.

To ensure BDS mark of those products, the institution inspects manufacturing units and conduct necessary tests of samples of those products.

Manufacturing companies will have to apply for the BSTI licence on a mandatory basis by complying with the BDS mark.

S.M. Ishaq Ali, director of Certification Mark wing of BSTI, said many of those products were available in the market without BDS mark.

"We've started a move to find out the left out products that are not following BDS mark," he said.

The BSTI will issue a public notice to make local producers aware of the need for obtaining BSTI licence on those products within the given timeframe, he said.

There are some 4,000 products in the BSTI catalogue-2018.

It contains national standards, which are determined by experts' committees.

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