Plastic rules amid lax compliance with 14-yr old jute packaging law

Mandatory jute packaging for nearly two dozen of food stuff now falls almost flat thanks to slack implementation of the law. 

Other factors responsible damaging the initiative to promote jute and protect the environment include abrupt inclusion of food items to the jute packaging list without assessing the practicality and the availability of jute sacks and their cost effectiveness compared to plastic ones.

On top of all, officials say the initiative missed a firm political commitment.

Economists, environmentalists and sector people now call on the authorities seeking a sincere effort to apply the law on a priority basis rather than a full implementation. 

In 2010, the government passed a law mandating the use of jute sacks for the storage, supply and packaging of rice. 

In around five years, jute sacks for rice packaging gained a footing, with millers using jute bags for rice packaging.

However, many millers and traders then started to shift to plastic bags again as imported rice from India arrived in plastic packaging.

The Mandatory Use of Jute Packaging Act, 2010 was enacted to ensure the use of jute bags for 19 essential products, including rice, wheat, maize, pulses, and flour.

In 2017, other kitchen items such as chilli, turmeric, onion, garlic, ginger, coriander, and potatoes were added to the jute packaging list. By 2018, jute packaging coverage was expanded further to include poultry and fish feed.

According to the law, the penalties for non-compliance include up to one year in jail, a maximum fine of Tk 50,000, or both.

Businesspeople acknowledge the environmental hazard of plastic bags, but they wonder whether there would be enough jute bags to meet the local demand. Besides, they question the practicality of mandating jute packaging for some food items as jute sacks absorb moisture quickly, potentially leading to damages like spoiled flour or sugar.

Abdul Barik Khan, secretary general of the Bangladesh Jute Mills Association, criticised the lack of enforcement, saying, "While many are aware of the environmental harm caused by plastic, there has been little commitment from past governments to enforce this law."

Khan believes proper implementing the law could revive the jute industry, benefit millions of jute farmers and the environment.

He said the government should make jute bags mandatory in all rice mills, with license cancellation penalty for non-compliance.

In the meanwhile, a senior official of at a major food importing and processing firm doubted the country's ability to meet the demand for jute sacks.

The official at the food import firm said plastic packaging remains a more practical option due to its lower cost and durability.

In 2012, a writ petition was filed with the High Court. The court issued a stay order, allowing the continued use of plastic bags.

Visiting several kitchen markets in Dhaka's Mirpur, Mohammadpur and Karwan Bazar recently, this correspondent found that plastic sacks were being widely used for rice packaging.

AKM Khorshed Alam, president of the Bangladesh Auto Rice Mill Owners Association, said a few traders currently use jute sacks.

He said the past government did not take stringent measures to implement the law.

The Daily Star approached local major conglomerates including Akij, ACI and Rashid Agro-Food Products Ltd for comment on jute packaging for their rice brands. But they were not available for comment on this topic. 

Abdur Rauf, secretary of the Ministry of Textiles and Jute, acknowledged that the law has not been enforced over the past decade but expressed hope that the situation would change with greater political will.

He said that efforts are now on, starting with supershops, and a meeting with jute sector stakeholders was held last Tuesday where a decision to supply jute bags quickly to meet demand was taken.

Syeda Rizwana Hasan, adviser to the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change, at an event yesterday said that initiatives will be taken to make widespread use of jute packaging through the proper implementation of the law.

"Our ministry will provide all types of policy support to businesspeople to increase the use of jute products," said Rizwana, also an environmental activist and prominent enviromental lawyer.

Textiles and Jute Adviser Brigadier General (Retd) M Sakhawat Hossain at the same event said initiatives will be taken first to ensure the use of jute sacks of paddy, rice and wheat.

Khondaker Golam Moazzem, research director of local think tank Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), said the past government could not fully implement the law due to various operational weaknesses.

However, the current adviser to the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change has been working on this issue for a long time. "I hope she will take appropriate initiatives to fully implement this law." 

Golam Moazzem said local jute mills probably do not have the capacity to meet the demand. "That is why, we need to be prepared first before the implementation."

Another thing is, he said, it will be easier to implement the law if it goes to priority basis, instead of full implementation for all products.