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Bakers protest bid to test product quality

Kausar Islam Ayon
The Bread Biscuit and Confectionery Manufacturers Association (BCMA) has threatened to close down all bakeries run ' manually if the government fail j to meet certain demands by January 15.
The BCMA is protesting against alleged harassment by the Bangladesh Standard Testing Institute (BSTI), Dhaka City corporation (DCC) and law enforcing authorities while these agencies are saying that they are just trying to enforce rules and regulations.
Most bakeries in the city reportedly operate without the BSTI's certificate although it is mandatory for food manufacturers to have their products tested and passed by the BSTI before they are marketed.
"Why should we have our products tested as the ingredients we use are already passed by them (BSTI)? We do not think we are making below standard products," said Abdul Ahad, owner of Ahad Bakery. "Besides, I do not understand why the BSTI and the DCC ask us to change the floors and the roofs," Ahad added.
"We have asked bakery owners to improve the standard of hygiene inside the factories. If someone visits one factory, he will never again eat any bakery stuff. These places are that dirty,"
said an official of DCC's sanitary department
According to the rules, the food producers must write down the ingredients, manufacturing and expiry dates., and other-j essential information'.qn trie label of die product. ' '
"Eighty percent of the manufacturers do not even write their addresses on the label. Because of that, when we find faulty products in the market we are often unable to take action against them," said an official of BSTI.
BSTI officials informed that they have requested the owners of the bakeries to take certificates as per rules and denied reports of harassment.
"They must be certified by us and before that they should pass the test. There are no other alternatives," said a high official of BSTI.
He also said that they have decided not to become lenient on this issue as a matter of principle. "They must take the certificate today or tomorrow," he added.
BCMA members claimed that a section of BSTI officials were only after bribe and were even offering packages to the bakery owners for passing the test
"They asked me to pay thirty thousand Taka to pass the test while the government rate is betweenTk700 to900. They have also said that I will not get the certificate if I do not go through
them," said owner of a bakery in Shantinagar.
Director general of BSTI ABM Abdul Haque Chowdhury denied the allegations and said that q wnerspoukl go to him directly. . .t^sure'thern they will not have to pay a single Taka extra for testing. If they give me the names of those who had sought bribe from them, I will take action against those people, " said Chowdhury
BCMA members have also claimed that many bakeries in the country had to be closed down due to the harassment. Based on their information, this correspondent visited Riaz Bakery aiMalihagh and New Medina Bakery At Badda which were supposed to have gone off operation. But they were found to be running at full swing.
The BCMA was also opposed to the government's decision of
bringing bakeries under VAT registration.
“We do not have any problems about going through the BSTI testing but we are against impiemantaeion'ofVAT on us. if the government goes ahead with the plan. 90 percent of manual bakeries will shut down automatically," said Mohammad Jalal Uddin, presi-dentofBCMA.