Mar 03, 2017: At last, Tripura Government has woken up and taken action against rampant use of formalin in fishes. The State Government has banned import of fish from Bangladesh after allegations of using formalin in imported fishes came out.
According to media reports, fish vendors are using harmful element for human being – formalin in fishes imported from Bangladesh and Andhra Pradesh. Fish samples were collected from the markets and tested and allegation of using formalin found to be true in many cases. Following public outcry, the State Health Minister Badal Choudhury today restricted import of fishes from Bangladesh. Moreover, Minister said, Food Safety Officers will continue to collect fish samples randomly and will test the sample in labs to check if formalin has been used. Anyone found guilty under the Food Safety Security Act and Rules, 2011 faces a penalty of Rs 1 lakh to Rs 10 lakhs or imprisonment or both.
“The government has asked customs and other authorities to stop importing fish from Bangladesh through seven LCS (Land Custom Station) except the Agartala-Akhaura Integrated Check Post (ICP),” Minister said.
The seven LCSs are in Agartala, Srimantapur, Khowaighat (west Tripura), Kamalpur, Old Raghnabazar (north Tripura), Belonia and Sabroom (south Tripura). The decision of imposing ban on fish import from Bangladesh may trigger huge fish crisis in local markets and prices of local fishes may go up.
