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Feed industry to come under regulation

Sohel Parvez
A new law is on cards to bring the country's more than two decades old feed industry under regulatory framework.
The move is a safeguard measure to check the production and marketing of any feed having toxic substance risky for human health and environment as well, officials said.
As per the draft law on fish and livestock feed, the usage of antibiotic, growth hormone and pesticides in the poultry, fish and dairy feeds will also be forbidden.
Meanwhile, hailing the government move to enact the law, feed millers feared any misuse might take a toll on the more than Tk4,000 crore industry.
“Feed makers have been selfregulated since the beginning of their business. Now it's time to bring the sector under regulatory framework to ensure making feeds free of any substance risky for human health," a senior official of the Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock, told The Daily Star yesterday.
The official said the draft law will be placed before t the cabinet soon and expected its passage in the parliament in the next two months.
The move comes as feed business thrives on a gradual growth of commercial fanning of poultry, fish and dairy.
Presently, more than 50 companies are active in the business, although over 250 companies have already been registered at the Registrar of Joint Stock Companies and Firms to secure a slice of the yearly demand for about 20 lakh tonnes of feed.
Bulk of the feed goes to poultry farming, with about 10 companies such as Aftab, Quality, Paragon and Kazi controlling majority of the feed market.
Industry insiders said individual companies or processors determine standards of the feeds they produce in
absence of any quality parameter.
“Now cultured fish meets majority of domestic demand instead of captured fish. For meat, majority comes from commercial poultry farming. That's why quality control issue has come to the fore," said the official.
Under the proposed law, no persons or companies will be able to produce, process, export and import and marketing of feed without having licenses either from the Department of Fisheries or the Department of Livestock
The draft law also suggests testing of feeds at quality control laboratories to check nutritional standards.
It also proposed that a consumer be empowered to examine such nutritional aspects of feeds at Department of Fisheries, Bangladesh Standard and
Testing Institution and Bangladesh Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (BCSIR) laboratories.
Feed marketers will also need to obtain certificates before importing or marketing any feed.
In case of imports, certification on radiation from the proper authority of exporting countries is also necessary, according to the proposed law that asked for packaging and labelling such as nutritional value of feed ingredients, production and expiry dates etc.
In case of adulteration, the government will be able to confiscate products or machineries of the companies involved.
"The law will enhance government's authority to oversee feed business as well as up the responsibility of feed traders in marketing quality
feeds,” the ministry official said.
Feed makers however view the issue differently.
Md Kaiser Rahman, chairman of Quality Feeds Ltd, a leading feed maker, said, "Competition in quality is the only parameter in feed business. Companies will lose their acceptance to farmers unless they maintain quality."
The feed law is set to be framed at a time when the government has imposed a six month restriction on fresh water shrimp (galda) exports because of nitro furan contamination.
Moshiur Rahman, coordinator of Bangladesh Poultry Industries Coordination Committee, welcomed the government initiative.
sohel@thedailystar.net