Food shortage to be met through imports: Tofail Ahmed
UNB
Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed yesterday said that food will be imported if the production in the country is insufficient this year due to flood, reports UNB. The minister came up with this remark at the closing ceremony of Bangladesh Food Safety Conference-2017, the first international conference on food safety in Bangladesh at a hotel in the capital.
Tofail referred to the situation following the Liberation War, when independent Bangladesh faced a food crisis with a population of 7.5 crore (75 million). Today, the country is self-sufficient in food with a population of 16 crore (160 million), said the minister, adding that though this year food production will be less due to natural disaster, it will be solved by importing food.
There is a Consumer Rights Protection Directorate under Commerce Ministry, who are performing their duty properly. Several projects have been taken to create awareness among the consumers, said Tofail.
Terming the conference as the start of a new journey, Food Minister Advocate Quamrul Islam said Bangladesh Food Safety Authority (BFSA) will flourish with the suggestions and opinions from the conference, and the authority will further make work plans. Director General of Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institution (BSTI) Md Saiful Hasib presided over the program. The conference, which started on Wednesday, was jointly organized by BSTI, BFSA, Foreign Investors Chamber of Commerce and Industries (FICCI) and Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industries (MCCI).
