Beyond observance of the World Standards Day

Observance of the World Standards Day or International Standards Day on October 14 in this country has become routine but its confinement to the official circle and some private agencies has little helped create the mass awareness and spread the message. The rhetoric speakers at the function exude does not match with the grass-roots-level reality. When the officials claim that several laboratories of the Bangladesh Standards Testing Institute (BSTI) have been developed as world class facilities, they would be hard put to explain why the parent institute's certificate is not recognised by other countries. 

Accepted that some laboratories meet the international testing standards but there are several tests that no laboratory here can perform. The international standard plant quarantine for exports and some advanced food safety analysis are missing, let alone the specialised chemical analysis. When required, it is done by Societe Generale de Surveilance, a multinational company founded in France and headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland. Inspection, verification, testing and certificate services are its specialisation no other institute can challenge. 

However, the first two should have been within the reach of the local laboratories long ago but for the bureaucratic go-slow policy on developing testing infrastructure. Export of vegetables including the leafy ones and fruits is often restricted due to failure of meeting the phytosanitary requirements of the importing countries. In Bangladesh, the plant quarantine wing under the Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) of the Ministry of Agriculture serves as the National Plant Protection Organisations (NPPO) in other countries. Now the question is if the wing concerned issues a phytosanitary certificate, if the destination country is obliged to recognise it. Clearance of a commodity by the NPPO is one thing and the same by the quarantine wing under the DAE is a completely different thing. 

Why Bangladesh does not have a full-fledged NPPO? Consignments to and from other countries need to meet the international standards. Advanced technology and expert manpower are a prerequisite for ensuring that plants and plant products are free from pests and diseases. Further, it has to make sure that the ecological health of the destination country is not disturbed by introduction of invasive species. When potato export fails to take off because of failure to meet the phytosanitary requirements of the importing countries such as Russia, there is a need for reviewing the DAE's role in improving the entire gamut of cultivation, harvest and storage of agricultural produce. The inspection and monitoring must start from quality seeds to irrigation to use of fertilisers to spray of insecticides to harvesting and storage of crops. 

This is how Bangladesh can transform its image as a producer of safe foods. Maintaining the standards of the consumables is a culture of ethical practices a people develop throughout ages. Unfortunately, this country is not famous for this. On the contrary, there are dark geniuses who can produce a carbon copy of anything starting from local brands to foreign brands of cosmetics and toiletries to life-saving drugs produced by pharmaceutical companies. Unsuspecting consumers often purchase the spurious products thinking those are genuine. Both adulterated foods and counterfeit consumer goods compromise or cause harm to public health. 

Digital technology has made copying so picture perfect that naked eyes often fail to distinguish the fake items from the genuine. For example, toothbrushes of the famous brands like Dr West's are available everywhere in the country. The prices of such items are a good indication of its local production. No one cares for the copyright laws that should have prompted the authorities launch drives against factories that churn out millions of the item. Standardisation of goods produced by genuine manufacturers thus suffers a setback in the process. At the same time, the country's aspiration for self-sufficiency in various products is stymied. As the market is flooded with fake products of foreign brands, the local brands find marketing of theirs very difficult.
So, there is a need for containing the invasive business of counterfeit goods. Notwithstanding the BSTI's endeavour to protect both consumer rights and maintenance of standards of local brands, the counterfeiters find ways of carrying out their forgery and fraudulent business. Unless the massive counterfeit business can be dismantled, standardisation of goods will not take a firm root in the system. Therefore, serious and effective drives should be launched in order to drive impostors out of business. This is a perquisite for improving quality of products of local brands and adding value to the national economy. 

Observance of the World Standards Day in the capital with the participation of the government officials concerned, representatives of the CAB and industries in the private sector will hardly produce any positive results unless people at the grassroots level are sensitised about maintenance of qualities of produce and goods and take a stand against adulteration and copying of goods. To that end, the DAE and representatives of SMEs should collaborate for observance of the day in villages and small towns. This year's theme, "A Shared Vision for a Better World: Standards for Sustainable Development Goals" leaves a cue to bringing first the house in order and then engaging with the wider world.

nilratanhalder2000@yahoo.com