The cabinet has approved the draft of Formalin Control Act 2014 keeping provision of maximum life term imprisonment for violation of the law.
The law proposed for maximum life-term imprisonment and fine of Taka 20 lakh for production, import, transport, stocking, sale and use of formalin without license.
A license holder, for violation of the terms and conditions of the license, will get maximum seven years of imprisonment or pay fine of taka five lakh or both, the law proposed.
The final approval for the law was given at a regular cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Monday. Cabinet Secretary M Mosharraf Hossain Bhuiyan briefed reporters after the cabinet meeting at the secretariat.
The law will be enforced under the jurisdiction of mobile court. If mobile court thinks the trial of any case is beyond its jurisdiction, it will refer the case to the court concerned.
"The objective of the law is not banning the use of formalin. It will control the misuse of formalin," said the cabinet secretary.
The law will be effective when the commerce ministry formulates rules and regulations regarding the law, he added.
On June 11, the DMP launched an anti-formalin drive in the capital, armed with the electronic device Formaldehyde Meter Z-300, which has been reportedly made to test the concentration level of formaldehyde in air.
