Toxic MBM still being imported
Last January, we ran an editorial praising the government ban on the import and sale of meat and bone meal (MBM), the sort of feed the fish and poultry industry uses, because it poses a serious threat to public health. However, as the recent seizure by Chattogram Customs House shows, despite the ban since December 26, 2018, a number of companies have been flouting the rules. We are surprised to see some of the biggest names in the feed industry on the list of importers. MBM was banned back in 2001 by India and a host of other nations followed suit in South and South-East Asia.
We would like to thank the authorities for putting in place testing laboratories which were brought into play to test the suspected shipments. Reportedly, the importing companies are working in league with Clearing and Forwarding (C&F) agents to bring in the contraband item using falsified laboratory reports. This incident should act as a wakeup call for all relevant departments that there will be further attempts to bring banned substances in and the only remedy to combat these syndicates is making it very expensive for defaulters to engage in the trade—it requires massive penalties to be introduced for those companies and their respective C&F agents that break the law in importing public health hazard causing agents, like MBM, through customs. Unless such measures are introduced and more importantly, enforced, the lure for fast profits will always be there.
We know that given the size of the fishery and poultry industry, hundreds of thousands of tonnes of MBM are pouring into the country (through mostly illegal channels), which is fuelling, what health practitioners call, a cancer epidemic in the country. The fisheries and livestock ministry need to explore viable alternatives and help introduce those to the market. Public health of millions is at stake here and that cannot be traded off for profits for the industry.
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