Govt bans sale of loose soybean oil from Aug 1
The government will disallow sales of loose soybean oil from August 1 to ensure sufficient quantity and stop adulteration of the key cooking ingredient in the domestic market, according to an official of the Directorate of National Consumers Right Protection (DNCRP).
The ban on sales of loose soybean oil was meant to be implemented from January earlier this year, but it was deferred because of the volatile market situation at home and abroad, said AHM Shafiquzzaman, director general of the DNCRP.
Recently though, the industries and commerce ministries both agreed to impose the ban from August.
Shafiquzzaman was speaking at a workshop on consumers' rights protection laws and the current price hike of essentials at the auditorium of the Economic Reporters' Forum (ERF) in Dhaka yesterday.
The ERF and DNCRP jointly organised the workshop, which was attended by journalists and senior government officials.
Primarily, the decision has been taken only for soybean oil but the same will gradually be applicable for other edible oil products as well, he said.
Currently, of the total edible oil consumption in the country, 30 per cent is soybean oil and the remaining 70 per cent consists of palm, super palm and mustard oil.
Also, some 50 per cent of the soybean oil is sold as loose while the rest is bottled, Shafiquzzaman added.
Asked, he said refiners also sell soybean oil in small packs so that consumers of all levels can purchase the kitchen essential as per their spending capacity.
For instance, there are 100-gram packs of soybean oil in local markets apart from one to five-litre bottles.
The DNCRP official also said it is difficult to control the essentials market as many invisible players are involved in the distribution of commodities.
Besides, the DNCRP has no power to send those who violate rules to jail and instead fines them, Shafiquzzaman added.
And due to the presence of invisible forces in the distribution of goods, especially perishable items like vegetables, their prices go up significantly in the market.
For instance, pointed gourd which sells for Tk 32 per kilogramme at Karwan Bazar costs up to Tk 80 in adjacent markets.
"The message of the invisible forces disseminates like a super web through mobile and they make a syndicate to make brisk business," Shafiquzzaman said.
However, the government has been amending the current law of the DNCRP to equip it with more power so it can also send rule violators to jail, he added.
Mijanur Rahman, a professor of marketing at the University of Dhaka, also said invisible forces are present in every step of the distribution chain.
The prices of a particular essential commodity skyrockets in the domestic market because in some cases, a single company grabs up to 28 per cent of the market share.
And four big conglomerates control the market of some essentials in the market, he said, adding that they can control the prices and supply as a result.
SM Nazer Hossain, vice-president of the Consumers Association of Bangladesh, said the government has already formed some organisations for controlling the prices of goods but consumers have no participation in this regard.
Mainly, government officials and businessmen are fixing the prices of commodities and finally the consumers are not benefited, he added.
Hossain suggested more visible activities of the DNCRP to control the prices of commodities in the domestic market.
Manzur Mohammad Shahriar, director of the DNCRP, and senior members of the ERF also spoke.
Atia Sultana, deputy director of the DNCRP, moderated the event. Mohammad Refayet Ullah Mirdha, president of the ERF, presided over the workshop.
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