Staff Reporter : The cabinet on Monday gave final nod to the draft ‘Formalin Control Act 2014’ with a provision of a maximum punishment of life term and a minimum seven years’ imprisonment for the offenders. The Act will also empower deputy commissioners and upazila nirbahi officers to monitor and control use of health hazardous formalin. Cabinet Secretary M Mosharraf Hossain Bhuiyan told this to reporters after the regular weekly meeting of the cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. The cabinet gave the nod to the draft ‘Formalin Control Act 2014’ submitted to it by the Ministry of Commerce, said M Mosharraf Hossain Bhuiyan. He also said traders will require licenses to sell, carry and store the preservative once the law is passed. The move to enact an anti-formalin law came following its widespread use in preservation of fish, fruit and other food items, which is posing a serious threat to public health. The chemical, usually used as a preservative for biological specimens, is now being used to preserve edible items. To resist the harmful chemical-mixed fruits from entering the capital, Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) launched a special drive on June 11. Mobile courts and police have found the chemical being used rampantly in almost all seasonal fruits and fish during anti-formalin drives in markets across the country.
