Commerce ministry sits today to decide on 'confusing reports'
Sunday, 19 October 2008
FE Report
The Ministry of Commerce sits today (Sunday) to discuss a devise to end the impasse on 'confusing reports' in test of powder milk of eight foreign brands, a top official of the commerce ministry said Saturday.
The commerce ministry convened the inter ministerial meeting after eight products tested positive for melamine content at a Dhaka University laboratory test recently.
Commerce Secretary Feroz Ahmed told the FE Saturday: "We are confused with three different test reports of same products. We'll discuss tomorrow (Sunday) how to resolve the issue."
He further said: "We'll discuss whether we need to conduct the test inside or outside the country to have a credible report."
The government through an official handout Thursday advised consumers against eight foreign makes of powder milk until further notice after the products tested positive for melamine content.
The eight brands are: Australian brands Diploma and Red Cow, Danish brand Dano Full Cream, Chinese brands Yashili-1, Yashili-2 and Sweet Baby-2, and New Zealand brands Nido Fortified Instant and Anlene.
Out of these eight products, merely one brand tested positive for melamine at two other laboratory including the Bangladesh Standard and Testing Institute (BSTI) laboratory. The brand that tested positive in all three laboratories was Yashili-1 of China.
Since the outbreak of the news, traders in the city markets said demand for milk powder of all local and foreign brands has dropped sharply as consumers are afraid of contamination.
Most of the consumers were found Saturday to place order for buying fresh liquid milk, they said.
Traders said prices of liquid milk in the city markets marked rise to some extent over the last few days due to soaring demand for the same.
Some consumers said prices of liquid milk of three mostly sold brands -Milkvita, Aftab and Aarong -increased by Tk2-Tk3 and these were selling at Tk 47 - Tk50 a litre.
"I had to pay Tk49 for buying a litre of liquid milk which was earlier Tk47 a litre," one Abul Hossain said at a kitchen market in the city.
Some retail traders, however, claimed that prices of fresh liquid milk of the aforesaid brands remained unchanged at their previous level despite the soaring demand for them.
They said the way the demand for liquid milk is soaring over the last few days will be a worse situation if the supply is not boosted accordingly.
When asked, the commerce secretary said supply of fresh liquid milk during this time of the year usually declines, as it is the lean season.
He, however, expressed the hope that the supply situation would improve with the beginning of the winter season.
The Ministry of Commerce sits today (Sunday) to discuss a devise to end the impasse on 'confusing reports' in test of powder milk of eight foreign brands, a top official of the commerce ministry said Saturday.
The commerce ministry convened the inter ministerial meeting after eight products tested positive for melamine content at a Dhaka University laboratory test recently.
Commerce Secretary Feroz Ahmed told the FE Saturday: "We are confused with three different test reports of same products. We'll discuss tomorrow (Sunday) how to resolve the issue."
He further said: "We'll discuss whether we need to conduct the test inside or outside the country to have a credible report."
The government through an official handout Thursday advised consumers against eight foreign makes of powder milk until further notice after the products tested positive for melamine content.
The eight brands are: Australian brands Diploma and Red Cow, Danish brand Dano Full Cream, Chinese brands Yashili-1, Yashili-2 and Sweet Baby-2, and New Zealand brands Nido Fortified Instant and Anlene.
Out of these eight products, merely one brand tested positive for melamine at two other laboratory including the Bangladesh Standard and Testing Institute (BSTI) laboratory. The brand that tested positive in all three laboratories was Yashili-1 of China.
Since the outbreak of the news, traders in the city markets said demand for milk powder of all local and foreign brands has dropped sharply as consumers are afraid of contamination.
Most of the consumers were found Saturday to place order for buying fresh liquid milk, they said.
Traders said prices of liquid milk in the city markets marked rise to some extent over the last few days due to soaring demand for the same.
Some consumers said prices of liquid milk of three mostly sold brands -Milkvita, Aftab and Aarong -increased by Tk2-Tk3 and these were selling at Tk 47 - Tk50 a litre.
"I had to pay Tk49 for buying a litre of liquid milk which was earlier Tk47 a litre," one Abul Hossain said at a kitchen market in the city.
Some retail traders, however, claimed that prices of fresh liquid milk of the aforesaid brands remained unchanged at their previous level despite the soaring demand for them.
They said the way the demand for liquid milk is soaring over the last few days will be a worse situation if the supply is not boosted accordingly.
When asked, the commerce secretary said supply of fresh liquid milk during this time of the year usually declines, as it is the lean season.
He, however, expressed the hope that the supply situation would improve with the beginning of the winter season.