The newly-formed Bangladesh Food Safety Authority (BFSA) is limping with severe manpower shortage although the government has given high priority to creating awareness of food producers and other stakeholders to ensure safe food for consumers.
Officials said, the government is now trying to prepare a food safety plan, validation of preventive control, records review and re-analysis of the food safety plan by food producers and suppliers.
Bangladesh has so far followed 'reactive approach' for ensuring food safety. But a 'protective approach' is being applied across the world for ensuring safe food for consumers.
Good Manufacturing Practice, Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) and Development of Food Safety Plan are among the protective approaches.
The Bangladesh Food Safety Authority (BFSA) which is under the ministry of food and the FSPCA (Food Safety Preventive Control Alliance) of the US so far trained about 55 people of different local food processing units in the country about food safety.
The BFSA cannot, however, play its due role in ensuring food safety due to lack of sufficient logistics, sources said.
Shortage of manpower and absence of rules and regulations have also appeared to be deterrents for proper functioning of the agency even over one and a half years after its inception, they observed.
But of late, the BFSA authorities started formulating some regulations and providing training to the stakeholders for carrying out its operational activities effectively and smoothly.
The parliament passed the Food Safety Act, 2013 on October 10, 2013 (after repealing and re-enacting the existing outdated laws in this regard) in order to make provisions for ensuring citizens' rights to safe food for protection of human health and life.
Besides, it paved the way for formation of the BFSA. The BFSA, which is committed to ensuring food safety by utilising its full strength, came into being on February 2, 2015.
The organisation is responsible for supervising activities related to food production, import, processing, stockpiling, supply, marketing and sales. It is now preparing regulations on sampling and hygiene.
The agency has been allocated Tk 100 million by the government in the fiscal year (FY) 2016-17 to run its activities. The BFSA has drafted a Strategic Plan 2016-2021.
The BFSA is now coordinating with 18 ministries and 400 organisations/departments for ensuring food safety. It has the authority to give instructions to the ministries and departments in this regard.
The BFSA, since its inception, has carried out a few drives through mobile courts showing a little progress. "It is a big challenge. We need coordinated efforts to ensure food safety from the people of the country and the government ministries and agencies," chairman of BFSA Mohammad Mahfuzul Hoque told the FE.
At present, only 10 people (against the required number of 11, including chairman, members and secretary) are now looking after the activities of the BFSA.
The BFSA chairman said all the sanitary inspectors across the country are now looking after the food safety issue. "We started campaigns for creating mass awareness about food safety," he said.
"We welcome all-out support to all food control agencies, food business operators and people of the country towards the goal of establishing a modern and technological food safety system in Bangladesh to contribute to the government's Vision 2021," he added.
He said the BFSA is now continuing a campaign that includes distributing leaflets and pasting posters all over the country to create mass awareness about food safety.
"We are working to make all stakeholders aware about food safety," Mr Hoque said.
He said the BFSA will soon take an initiative for creating awareness among vendors regarding food safety.
"Initially, we will start in Dhaka, Chittagong and some other major cities for making vendors aware about safe food," he said.
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