DHAKA, April 10, 2023 (BSS) - The cabinet today approved two daft bills, including the draft of the 'Production, Storage, Transfer, Transport, Supply, Distribution and Marketing of Food (Prevention of Harmful Activities) Bill-2023', with a provision of life term imprisonment for illegal hoarding of food.

The cabinet, with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the chair, gave the final approval in a meeting held at Parliament Complex here.

The other bill is 'Bangladesh Dairy Board Bill, 2023'. 

After the meeting, Cabinet Secretary Md Mahbub Hossain briefed reporters about the two draft bills.

In the draft of the 'Production, Storage, Transfer, Transport, Supply, Distribution and Marketing of Food (Prevention of Harmful Activities) Bill-2023', said, "if a person stores more than the amount of foodstuff prescribed by the government or disobeys any instructions of the government regarding stocking, he or she will be sentenced to life imprisonment or a maximum of 14 years rigorous imprisonment and fine as well."

The penalty amount will be announced by the court. Meanwhile, if the person accuses of this offence can prove that he hoarded without any financial or other profit motive, he will be sentenced for a maximum period of three months and fine, proposed in the draft bill.

He said the bill was approved in principle on April 19, 2022. Through this law, mainly the crimes related to the production, storage, transfer, transportation, supply, marketing, distribution of food grains such as paddy, rice, wheat, flour and corn have been identified. Punishments have been prescribed for those offences as per the magnitude of the crimes, the cabinet secretary added.

With a total of 20 sections in the proposed bill, it has been made by combining two old laws, the Food (Special Court) Act, 1956 and the Foodgrains Supply (Prevention of Prejudicial Activity) Ordinance, 1979, the cabinet secretary added.

In the proposed law, the cabinet secretary also said, the provision of imprisonment ranging two to five years and a fine of Taka 10 lakh has been made for providing unsafe or adulterated food products in the market.

Apart from this, in the draft of 'Bangladesh Dairy Board Act, 2023' proposed to constitute a new body named "Bangladesh Dairy Development Board" to oversee the dairy related matters. The minister of fisheries and livestock has been proposed to be the ex-officio head of this board, consisting of total 19 members.

All those who are producing milk commercially or producing dairy food should come under the purview of this board, both government and private.