Co-op with Australia, NZ under way to revamp food safety authority

The government has taken an initiative to get cooperation from foreign countries to strengthen the office of the Food Safety Authority, officials said.  
The ministry of food has asked the Bangladesh Food Safety Authority (BFSA) to prepare draft memoranda of understanding, which will be sent to Australia and New Zealand for further action.
"We are preparing draft memoranda for sending those to Australia and New Zealand aimed at strengthening the BFSA," chairman of BFSA Mohammad Mahfuzul Hoque told the FE.
He said the areas of cooperation from the two countries will ensure long-term technical cooperation, sharing of knowledge and experiences, proper management and effective enforcement of the BFSA's activities.
High ups of Australia and New Zealand agreed to cooperate with Bangladesh food minister Qamrul Islam during his recent visits to the countries.
After proposals from the two countries, the BFSA authority started the process of preparing the draft memoranda, which will be sent to the countries through the ministry of foreign affairs via the ministry of food.
The BFSA started functioning in 2015 after the passage of Food Safety Act 2013. But even after two years of its inception, the BFSA could not function smoothly due to the absence of some rules and regulations.
BFSA chairman said that six regulations are now at the vetting stage at the law ministry.
"If the vetting is completed, then it will pave the way for enforcement of the law related to safe food," he added.
He, however, said that they have completed one rule related to the confiscation of adulterated foodstuffs.  
Getting safe food for consumption is a fundamental right of citizens, but it is rare, despite the availability of food items in the market.
Contamination of food with toxic chemicals poses a serious threat to public health, especially in a country like Bangladesh where the level of awareness is low due to poor health literacy.
Experts agree that the adulteration of food with toxic chemicals harmful to health has reached an epidemic proportion in Bangladesh.
The country is over-burdened with laws for making food safe, but the implementation remains patchy.
Food safety means the conditions and practices that preserve the quality of food to prevent contamination and food-borne illnesses.
The Parliament passed the Food Safety Act, 2013 on October 10, 2013 (after repealing and re-enacting the existing outdated laws in this regard) in order to make provisions for citizens' rights towards access to safe food for the protection of human health and life.
Besides, the passage of law paved the way for the formation of BFSA. The BFSA was set up on February 2, 2015, which is committed to ensuring safe food for the people by utilising its full strength.
The BFSA is coordinating with 18 ministries and 400 organisations or departments in order to ensure safe food.
It has the authority to give instructions to the ministries and departments for ensuring safe food.
Since its inception, the BFSA has carried out a few drives through mobile courts, making little progress in ensuring safe food.
    talhabinhabib@yahoo.com