The Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institution (BSTI), the nation’s standards and quality control agency, fined seven organisations a total of Tk14.80 lakh on Sunday for various irregularities.
The penalties were imposed through three separate mobile courts conducted in Narayanganj and the capital for manufacturing and marketing products without mandatory quality certifications.
In Rupganj, Narayanganj, a mobile court penalised three major firms a combined Tk10 lakh.
ACI Godrej Agrovet Private Limited was fined Tk4,00,000 – comprising Tk2,00,000 under the BSTI Act, 2018, and Tk2,00,000 under the Weights and Measures Standards Act, 2018 – for producing, selling, and distributing poultry and fish feed without BSTI quality and packaging registration certificates.
Aftab Feed Products Limited received an identical fine of Tk4,00,000 for the same offences. Besides, Jiuzhou Industry Ltd was fined Tk2,00,000 for manufacturing lead-acid starter batteries without the requisite quality and packaging licences.
In the capital’s Bosila area, Aman Consumer and Toiletries and Standard Consumer and Toiletries were fined a total of Tk3.50 lakh. The firms were found to be producing and marketing hand wash and liquid toilet cleaners (branded as Lyzol, Hirpic, and Vin) by mimicking the names of established companies.
Meanwhile, in Hazaribagh, a mobile court fined a confectionery shop named ‘Mithai’ Tk1,00,000 for selling sweets, biscuits, and lachcha semai without BSTI certification. Another establishment, Apurba Ananda Jol Khabar, was fined Tk30,000 for the unauthorised production and marketing of sweets and curd.
The mobile court in Narayanganj was led by Executive Magistrate Sabekun Nahar, while the drives in Bosila and Hazaribagh were conducted by Executive Magistrates Lutfunnessa Khanam and Md Mahbubul Islam, respectively.
Senior BSTI officials, including Deputy Director KM Hanif, Assistant Director (Metrology) Md Rakibul Alam, and Field Officers Md Rashed Al Mamun, Borhan Uddin, and Sumaiya Afroz Liza, were present during the operations.
