Govt moves to prepare draft rules of Safe Food Act ‘13

The government has initiated a move to prepare the draft rules of Safe Food Act- 2013 aiming to ensure public health safety, a high official said.
"We have started working to prepare the draft rules of Safe Food Act- 2013. We are working hard to complete it as early as possible," a joint secretary of the ministry of food who is involved in the process told the FE.
The parliament passed the Safe Food Act -2013 last year with a provision of maximum five years imprisonment or Tk 500,000 fine for food adulteration.
The official said the draft rules, once completed, will be reviewed by the experts' committee.
It will then be sent to the inter-ministerial meeting for review. And after that it will be sent to the ministry of law, justice and parliamentary affairs for vetting and after that (vetting) the ministry will issue a statutory regulatory order (SRO).  
The Act has also the provisions to form 'Bangladesh Safe Food Institution' and Bangladesh Safe Food Authority (BSFA) to oversee the implementation of the Act.
The BFSA would be formed like the shape of the US Food and Drug Administration and this will give the people of the country some relief from the menace of rampant food adulteration.
The Act also has the provision to form a national safe food management advisory panel, headed by the Prime Minister to give directions to the BSFA. It (Act) proposes forming food courts to try food adulterators.
There will be a technical committee and an experts' panel to ensure safe food quality.
The Act has the provision for different penalties like two-year imprisonment for making false claims about food items in advertisements, and three years for the selling of food products by people with contagious diseases.
The official said there will be mobile and penal courts to try food-related crimes under 22 categories and to award sentences ranging from jail terms to fines.
The Act will replace the age-old Pure Food Ordinance, 1959 and the current multi-pronged, multi-ministry controlled mechanisms of food safety issues.
The five-decade old ordinance, which is still in effect, has provisions for a paltry fine of Tk 5,000 or jail terms for two to three months for food adulterers, he added.
The ordinance covers only eight food commodities, while the new Act proposed to include over 200 food commodities.
The official said according to the Act, the food authority would detail the activities harmful to health and make arrangement of food testing.
If any person commits the same kind of offence for the second time, the penalty would be double.
Using formalin in food stuffs is still widespread in the country. Many countries have banned the use of formalin while Australia, Japan and the European nations have even banned its use in agriculture.
Health experts said consumption of the chemical may lead to development of cancer in the human body. Formalin can affect nose, mouth and throat.
"We are preparing the rules keeping in mind to protect the interest of the people," the food official said.