Arafat Ara
The drive against non-compliers of mandatory jute packaging remains ineffective, with local use of jute bags being negligible, millers said.
Sector insiders have identified short supply of jute-made bags, higher cost of the same compared with plastic-made ones and lax enforcement of law as major factors behind the poor usage.
Around 400 mobile courts have launched drives since the mandatory jute packaging act was made effective on January 1, 201, according to Department of Jute.
During the raids, mobile courts fined some Tk 4.5 million to the traders and millers for not non-compliance. The drives were made in different districts including Tangail, Satkhira, Khulna and Mymensingh.
Jute millers said although a good number of mobile court drives were launched, there was no positive impact on the local use of jute bags.
They said dealers are not interested in collecting jute made bags as they cannot sell those to their customers.
Muazzem Hossain, director general of Department of Jute, also acknowledged the ineffectiveness of the raids, saying the mobile court drives are continuing in different districts.
Despite the fine imposed on non-compliers, the use of jute bags is yet to increase dramatically, he noted.
He, however, is hopeful about a future pick-up in the usage of eco-friendly bags.
"We've sold very insignificant number of jute bags at the local level so far," said an official of the state-run Bangladesh Jute Mills Corporation (BJMC) wishing not to be named.
He said they are not getting buyers. Although some dealers bought jute bags from the BJMC, they could not sell those. The dealers are not interested to buy the products anymore, he added.
The BJMC official thinks that the amount of penalty should be increased for the non-compliers and the agency should conduct drives in mills and factories.
Raids in kitchen markets and small shops are not sufficient as they are not big users, he added.
The amount of fine is small against big rice mills and wholesale traders, he said.
Each violator will face imprisonment for upto one year or has to face a fine of Tk 50,000 or both the penalties will be applicable considering the degree of non-compliance.
He, however, said if local use is not increased, it will be difficult for the jute millers to survive.
Bangladesh Jute Mills Association (BJMA) chairman Shams-uz Zoha said the local sales of jute bags are still negligible compared to the requirement.
The government's step to raise local use of environmental-friendly bags is good but it will not bring any positive impact, unless the law is implemented properly, he said.
The BJMA leader stressed the need for launching strong drive and also ensuring cent per cent execution of law by government stakeholders, such as the Food Department, and fertiliser factories.
Jute bags should be used to pack paddy, rice, wheat, maize, fertiliser and sugar, according to the packaging law.
Nazir Hossain Prodhan, adviser of Bangladesh Auto, Major and Husking Mills Owners Association, has opposed the government's initiative to implement mandatory use of jute bags, alleging they are being harassed in the name of raids.
He said the price of jute-made bags is higher than that of plastic PP Woven bags.
"We can buy a plastic sacks weighing 50 kg at Tk 10 to 15, which is Tk 60 to 70 for jute- made bags," he said, adding plastic bags are more convenient in packing rice.
Customers are also not fond of jute bags as package because they are familiar to plastic bags. In this situation rice traders also will lose their regular customers if they use jute-made bags.
"We used such bags experimentally once, but customers did not take such package happily. So we have returned to plastic package,"Mr Prodhan added.
Kowsar Alam Khan, vice president of Rice Merchant Association, said they want to use jute bags but they cannot do so because there is a short supply of such bags in the country.
"We're not opposed to the use of jute bags as it is our local product. But we are not getting the same available as plastic bags," he added.
About 7.0 million bales of jute are produced in the country every year. Of the quantity, some 4.5-5.0 million bales are usually required for local jute industries and the rest are kept for exports.
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