The Cabinet on Monday gave final nod to the draft ‘Formalin Control Act 2014’ with a provision of maximum life term punishment and minimum seven years imprisonment for the offenders.
The law if passed in the Parliament will also empower deputy commissioners and upazila nirbahi officers (UNOs) 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 approved ‘Formalin Control Act 2014’ submitted to it by the Ministry of Commerce, said M Mosharraf Hossain Bhuiyan.
He also said that traders would require licenses to sell, buy and store the preservative once the law is passed.
According to the draft law, the misuse of formalin is a non-bailable offense. It also kept a provision of financial penalty to the tune of Tk 20,00000 for mixing formalin in foodstuffs.
The law will be enforced by mobile court. If mobile court thinks that the trial of any case is beyond its jurisdiction, it will refer the case to the court concerned.
“The law does not ban the use of formalin. It will just check the misuse of formalin,” said the cabinet secretary.
The law will be effective when the commerce ministry formulates rules and regulations regarding the law, he added
The move to enact an anti-formalin law became necessary 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 randomly in almost all seasonal fruits and fish.
