Fruit traders across the country jointly decided to resume their businesses yesterday after the government ensured then that traders would not be harassed in the name of anti-formalin drives.
They also announced that they would not call further strikes or demonstrations in this regard.
“We have taken the decision to resume business after authorities concerned assured us that traders would not be ‘harassed’ and their fruits would not be destroyed,” Md Sirajul Islam, general secretary of Dhaka Metropolitan Fruits Import-Export and Merchants’ Multiple Cooperative Society, told the Dhaka Tribune after attending a meeting with the leaders of fruit traders’ associations and fruit growers at the capital’s Badamtali Wholesale Fruit Market.
He said the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industries Vice-President Helal Uddin and Haji Mohammad Selim MP, president of the Badamtali Fruit Market, assured that they had discussed the issue with high officials of governmental bodies and confirmed that the mobile courts would not go and destroy fruits without laboratory tests.
“Our leaders (Helal and Selim) have informed us that the government will immediately form an expert committee to test formalin limits and adulterated fruits,” Sirajul added.
Speaking to the Dhaka Tribune, Helal Uddin said: “We asked government high-ups to ensure that the fruits be tested at the country’s Science Laboratory, BSTI or the Institute of Public Health, if police find traces of formalin at check posts.”
“Following our request, police officials assured us that they would consider our proposal,” he added.
On Friday, Dhaka Metropolitan Police held a meeting with the leaders of fruit traders’ association in a bid to convince them to withdraw the strike.
The meeting, held at the DMP headquarters, discussed the current situation and the DMP officials asked the traders to resume their business.
Earlier, on June 11, DMP launched an anti-formalin drive in the capital, armed with the electronic Formaldehyde Meter Z-300 device, which has reportedly been made to test the concentration level of formaldehyde in air.
Later, fruit traders claimed the drive was a form of harassment and questioned the dependability of the Formaldehyde Meter Z-300 used by the mobile courts to detect formalin.
They also called a strike and formed a human chain as a protest against the ongoing anti-formalin drive as they urged the government to put an end to the controversial move.
According to several research institutes in the country, such as the Institute of Food Science and Technology (IFST) and the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council, and agriculturalists, the Formaldehyde Meter Z-300 is an instrument to measure the concentration of chemicals or gases in the air, not in food items, and it is not used on food items in the US where it is manufactured.