Rice traders have to obtain license by Oct 30: minister

The Food Ministry has set Oct 30 as the deadline for rice and wheat traders to obtain licenses from the authorities.

Food Minister Qamrul Islam has ordered district controllers (DC Food) and regional controllers (RC Food) to take legal measures against any trader who has not obtained a license by then, reports bdnews24.com.

A notice informing rice traders of the decision will be issued by Oct 10, the food minister told reporters after a meeting with field level workers at the Secretariat on Monday.

The government has also made it mandatory for traders to report on their stocks every 15 days.

“Food officials were not previously aware of the need to collect stock reports due to ignorance, or other reasons,” the food minister said.