Bangladesh needs to improve the image of its food quality

The Directorate of National Consumers' Rights Protection works, from the beginning of food production to adequate supply, to ensure safe food, fair prices, declared quality, and quantity. For this, necessary market monitoring and drives are being carried out. In some cases, preventive measures are being taken.

The objective of all the work of the directorate is to develop a permanent system, through which the rights of consumers will be guaranteed. For this reason, consumers should be aware of their rights. Then this change will come quickly.

We are focusing our efforts on three critical issues. We are focusing on how to educate more people about their rights, how an issue can be rectified after addressing a problem, and how to solve the problem by conducting market drives and holding discussions with traders. The greater the combination of these factors, the stronger the basis for permanent system development.

At various levels, both businesspeople and consumers have attitude problems. The private sector is truly saving the country. We are working with everyone to support the private sector. Some traders do not consider Ramadan or the people.

Many in the business community have an excessive profit-making attitude. Here, consumers also need to be aware. If they avoid rotten food, the practice will stop. As consumers, we need to be aware. Excluding businesses as consumers will send a more alarming message to them.

Because the quality of food in Bangladesh actually does not match any standard. When we search for information, we see that there are questions about the quality of food at all levels, from the five-star hotel to the footpath. But the information is also coming out during operations.

We had an experience with food stalls at the trade fair. The directorate is working on food quality and price here. The way the food is prepared in restaurants is not up to any standard. If the person who went to eat there sees the back kitchen, it does not seem that he can be forced to eat there. We have work to do in these areas. Bangladesh's image is terrible in terms of food quality. We are working and campaigning. We are running campaigns on Facebook and YouTube. Those who see these know about this and should be careful. Everyone needs to participate here.

Along with various organisations, the Consumer Directorate always provides extra focus to the market during Ramadan. The problem is that some businessmen target Ramadan because of the increase in demand; because of this, they manipulate this time and, in many cases, make excessive profits. Such a tendency can be observed in many people. We are working diligently to prevent this from happening.

A message for consumers is that the supply of products will be available. But we don't want to understand it. Usually, with the idea that the price will increase before Ramadan, we buy essential items for the whole month two or three days before the beginning of the fasting month. It should not be done at all. Then maybe there is a crisis because suddenly the demand increases a lot. But the market becomes more volatile due to panic buying. It can be seen that after the 10th Ramadan, the price returns to its previous level.

The picture for the upcoming Ramadan is a little different, as there are some complications in opening our letters of credit (LCs). That's why we are collecting regular production, import data, and communicating with traders individually. A deputy governor of the Bangladesh Bank has been given the responsibility to monitor this matter. If there are any problems in banks, businessmen will contact him directly.

On the other hand, we are monitoring very closely. Whether products are available or not, whether refiners are maintaining their production, whether there is any problem in the production line or not, and whether there is any disturbance in the distribution line or not. Products are frequently stocked by dealers or traders after they leave mills. We are monitoring so that no artificial crisis can be created. We will take strict action immediately upon receiving any such information. So that there is no security crisis in the supply system of essential foods.

The Bangladesh Bank has already been requested to keep a quota in dollar supply for the import of essential goods for opening LCs.

The consumption of essential products such as sugar, oil, onions, and garlic almost doubles during Ramadan. Ramadan will begin in March. We are already prepared for this. Last October, the prime minister met with big businessmen in Ganabhaban, where owners of all corporate groups were present. At that time, they talked about LC opening and dollar issues. Then there was a problem with the gas supply. Now they are very normal. The prime minister is repeatedly saying that we will go through tough times in 2023. Due to this, various measures have been taken, including increasing local production. The coverage of social safety nets has been expanded. The Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB) provides low-cost food to one crore families. And 50 lakh families are provided with food under the open market sales (OMS) scheme.

CCMS app launched for consumer complaints

We are working on developing digital methods to reach consumers. To walk the path that the prime minister wants to build a smart Bangladesh, a new app called CCMS has been launched for complaints, through which consumers can file complaints from any part of the country.

Its advantage is that consumers have many small complaints but do not complain due to the complexities of the process. They lose interest. They used to face some problems when lodging complaints physically or by email. That will no longer happen with the new app.

This has two advantages. Consumers can easily log into the app and file a complaint from anywhere in Bangladesh. After making a complaint, an OTP will be generated, and the complaint number will be sent to the complainant's mobile phone via SMS. Later, the notifications will directly reach him digitally. Through this, we will slowly move towards paperless activities. About 300 complaints have been received in just four days since the app's launch. The consumer can easily know the status of his complaint.

On the other hand, each complaint will be digitally distributed serially among the officers.

As complaints come in digitally, we can understand which sectors are receiving more complaints. Then I can plan and work there with importance. Maybe there are more complaints about fake products; we can sit down with the relevant people there and work on why it is happening. We can keep watch on the matter of monitoring and supervision sitting at the desk.

They will continue in this manner for the time being, similar to the old 3700 (excluding e-commerce), but at some point, we will scan it and take it digitally. Also, the officials have been instructed to advise those who want to file a case at the consumer rights directorate to file the case digitally. At some point, we will stop filing cases in hard copy. All this will help in creating a sustainable market management system to achieve the security of consumer rights over time.

The author is the director general of the Directorate of National Consumers' Rights Protection