SC asks govt to retest all milk brands thru' WHO

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The Supreme Court (SC) has ordered the government to examine the presence of melamine in the powdered milk brands through the World Health Organisation (WHO), reports bdnews24.com.
A five-member Appellate Division bench led by Chief Justice MM Ruhul Amin passed the ruling Monday by amending the High Court (HC) order.
The High Court on November 10 directed the government to test samples of all brands of powdered milk in the laboratories of the University of Dhaka, Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission and BSTI, and submit the reports to the court.
After Monday's ruling, advocate Manjil Morshed for the writ petitioner, told the news agency that the Supreme Court upheld the High Court order.
The Supreme Court also asked the government to test the samples of the brands in any European country through the UN's WHO, he said.
The High Court would now be able to make a decision after examining the reports received from organisations in Bangladesh and abroad, he added.
In the hearing barrister Rokanuddin Mahmud represented Nestlé and advocate Mahmudul Islam Diploma and Red Cow.
The counsels of the milk powder brands appealed to the court to extend the duration of the High Court order that withdrew the ban on sale of five powdered milk brands until the test reports were available.
The Supreme Court would go on vacation next month and if the report did not come by that time, it would be difficult for them to get a time extension, they argued.
Morshed, the lawyer for the petitioner, Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh, a human-rights organisation, opposed the plea for the extension.
The writ petitioners did not have any objections in testing the brands abroad. But the test should be in Europe, he added.
The High Court in its ruling had ordered the health ministry to test for presence of melamine contamination in eight powdered milk brands and submit reports to court in 21 days. These are Diploma, Red Cow, Dano, Yashli-1, Yashli-2, Sweet Baby, Nido and Enline.
The government had been ordered to collect samples from market in presence of representatives of the chemistry department of the University of Dhaka, BAEC, BSTI and the owners.