The right to food

The right to adequate food is realized

when every man, woman and child,
alone or in community with others,
has the physical and economic
access at all times to adequate food
or means for its procurement.
 Food security
The World Food Summit of 1996 defined food security as
existing ‘when all people at all times have access to
sufficient, safe, nutritious food to maintain a healthy and
active life.’

The World Health Organization adds that, generally, food

security is defined as ‘including both physical and economic
access to food that meets people’s dietary needs as well as
their food preferences’ and has three facets:
• Food availability is the availability of sufficient
quantities of food on a consistent basis.

• Food access is maintaining and possessing

economic and physical resources in order to
obtain appropriate food for a nutritious diet.

• Food use means the appropriate use of specific

foodstuffs based on knowledge of basic nutrition
and care, as well as adequate water and sanitation.
 Food Safety

Access to safe food is a crucial facet of the right to

adequate food. Food adulteration and contamination is
a prevalent problem in Bangladesh, food safety being
identified as one of the biggest human rights concerns in
Bangladesh.

Bangladesh is a developing country in the world. About 26%

of its populations still live below the poverty line
(less than $1.00 a day or unable to afford to buy food
providing a daily intake of 2,100 kilocalories).
 Rights of Nutrition
Well nourished children perform better in school, grow into
healthy adults, and can serve the country better than malnourished
children. Rural children are more likely to be malnourished than
urban children. Undernourished children have lowered resistance to
infection and are more likely to die from common childhood
diseases, such as diarrhea and acute respiratory infections,
underweight, and nearly half of them suffer from chronic
malnutrition. A conservative estimate of the number of under 5
children suffering from wasting (weight for height) in Bangladesh is
2.2 million. More than half a million of these children are in the
severe category of acute malnutrition and face elevated risks of
mortality. Some children of wealthy families in urban areas of
Bangladesh are over weighted because of taking excess fibreless
junk food. These children are not actually healthy. In real life
obesity is a major disease which creates Type 2 diabetes and
cardiac attack. Iodine deficiency disorder (IDD).
 Consumer Rights

Consumer Rights Protection Act, 2009 addresses defines

consumer offences, or ‘acts against consumer rights’, such
as ‘selling food containing banned substances or selling
expired products.’ It clearly stipulates the punishments, the
highest being three years imprisonment or a fine of Tk
2,00,000.It also provides for the establishment of a National
Consumer Rights Protection Council. The courts of first class
magistrates or metropolitan magistrates are empowered to
try offences under this Act.
The Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institution (BSTI)

The Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institution

Ordinance, 1985 establishes the Bangladesh Standards
and Testing Institution (BSTI) for establishing
Bangladesh-specific standards of quality and
dimensions, to promote standardization, quality
control, to secure compliance with its standards, and
to certify the quality of foods, among others. The law
also empowers the government to restrict the sale or
import of certain goods that do not meet BSTI standards,
and to punish those in breach of its provisions. The BSTI
may appoint inspectors for inspecting the quality and
standard of articles and to take samples of any article to
test it against the BSTI’s standards.
Breast-feeding substitutes, child foods, commercially-manufactured infant foods and its use
tools (Marketing Control) Act, 2013
(Act No. 35 of 2013)

"breast-milked substitute" means the mother's milk, partially or fully prepared, alternatively
produced, marketed or presented in any way, from the time of birth to 6 (six) months of age;

"child food" means any food made after partial or full, ready, marketed, or presented in any way,
after the full 6 (six) months of the child;

"commercial food produced commercially" means any commercially manufactured food rich in
proper nutrition, according to the age of six (six) months after the birth of the age of six (6)
months, whether called by the name ;

"advertisement" means any announcement or representation of any kind of print or electronic

media, e-mail, internet or any other written, printed, sound or light, including the notices,
circulars, envelopes, plates or any other document. Shall be;
Provision regarding importation of breast milk substitutes, infant food, etc., locally produced,
sale etc.

Without registration under this Act, a person can not import, locally produce, market, sell or
distribute any type of breast-milk substitute, child food, commercially manufactured baby food
or its use equipment.
Educational or other information
. For the purpose of establishing contact with birth or early pregnancies or mothers of child, for
the purpose of pre-birth or posthumous services, the following information will be included in
any educational or informative materials, among other things, the following information: -

(a) Benefits of breast milk and Provide ideas about excellence;

(B) Maintaining breast feeding in the proper manner and maintaining its continuity;
(C) Feeding of mother's shawl in 1 (one) hours of birth, feeding breastmilk till full 6 (six) months,
and after 6 (six) months, the benefits of feeding food in the house as well as breast-feeding, and
the child's full two (two) years Importance of breast feeding;
(D) Information about breast-milk substitutes, infant foods and commercially prepared foods for
food (such as bottles, passifiers, etc.), which are harmful to the health of a newborn baby;
(E) Supplementary food can be made easily by domestic ingredients (eg, indigenously produced
fruits, vegetables, fish, meat, milk, eggs etc.) and information about encouraging them to feed
the food;
(F) Information about breast-milk alternatives, child food and commercially manufactured
infant's child's health, loss of health of mother and child, barricades of citizenship of the state,
social and financial loss and its inferiority;

(G) Difficulties of returning to the breast-feeding option after breastfeeding after feeding the
child;

(H) Any other matter as prescribed.

National Advisory Committee constituted
(1) For the purpose of this Act, there shall be a committee called the National Advisory
Committee.
(2) The committee shall be formed in coordination with a chairman, not including 9 (nine)
members.
(3) The Chairman and Members of the Committee shall be nominated for the term of 03 (three)
years and on the terms prescribed by the Government.
(4) Committee meetings and other activities shall be held in the prescribed manner.
(5) Public health nutrition institutions will provide necessary secretariat and other support to
the performance of the committee.

Committee Functions

The functions of the National Advisory Committee will be as follows: -

(a) For the proper observation and action of the government regarding the International Code of
Marketing and its relevant international standards for breast-milk substitutes, baby food, excess
food for commercially manufactured children or its use. Offer advice;

(B) for the purpose of this Act, to perform or perform other functions assigned or specified by
the Government; And

(c) any other scheduled action.

Registration of breast milk substitutes, infant
foods, etc.
(1) For the purpose of this Act, the director will provide registration of breast milk substitutes,
infant foods and commercially prepared baby foods.

(2) Every application for registration under sub-section (1) shall be submitted to the director
referred to in sub-section, in prescribed manner, in form, condition and fees.

(3) Appeal submitted under sub-section (2), in accordance with the provisions of this Act and
the rules made thereunder, in consideration, registration shall be made within 60 (sixty days) of
submission of application.

(4) The registration certificate issued under this section shall specify the terms and conditions
for registration and registration.

(5) The period of each registration issued under sub-section (3) shall be 3 (three) years from the
date of registration and it shall be renewable in the prescribed time subject to the prescribed
fee.
Suspension and cancellation of registrations, etc.

(1) If any of the provisions of this Act or any rule made thereunder or if any condition specified
in the registration certificate is violated or if any wrong or false information is provided for
obtaining the registration, the director may, in prescribed manner, suspend registration or, as
the case may be, cancel it.

(2) No registration under sub-section (1) may be postponed or, as the case may be, canceled,
without giving the applicant an opportunity to show the reasons for not less than 15 (fifteen)
days.

(3) If a registered holder is aggrieved by any order given under sub-section (1), he may appeal to
the Government within 30 (thirty) days from the date of receipt of the order.

(4) The decision shall be made within 60 (sixty) days from the time of application for appeal
under sub-section (3); And the government's decision on that matter will be final.
 Bar

(1) If any person violates any of the provisions of this Act, then that violation shall be an offense
and for that, he shall be punished with imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 (three) years,
or a fine not exceeding 5, 00,000 (five hundred thousand) taka, or both.

(2) If a child is sick or dies due to breast-milk substitutes, child food and commercially
manufactured foods or its use equipment, it will be a heinous crime under this Act and
therefore, those breast-milk substitutes, child food commercially produced baby food or its use
The company prepared by the equipment will be sentenced to 10 (ten) years or imprisonment

Penalty Punishment Offenses

For any offense mentioned in this Act, if a person commits a second attempt or another repeat
offense, he shall be punishable at twice the rate of the said penalty.
Seizure related to crime, equipment, etc. confiscation

If any offense arises under this Act, those things which have been committed in connection with
the things, goods, equipment, or any other material, shall be forfeited or, as the case may be,
disposable.
Offense by the company

(1) If any offense under this Act is committed by any company, then every directive, manager,
secretary, partner, officer and employee of the company shall be deemed to have committed
such offense, unless he proves that the said The crime has been unaware of him or he tried his
best to stop the crime.

(2) If the company mentioned in sub-section (1) is a legal corporation, in addition to being
accused and convicted of the person mentioned in that sub-section, the company may be
charged separately and convicted in the same proceeding, but on the criminal case According to
the relevant provisions only the penalty can be imposed.

Explanation - In this section -

(A) "company" means a commercial organization, partnership business, association, association

and organization;

(B) In the case of commercial organizations, in the sense of "director", there is also a partner or
member of the board of directors.
Act of law no. 59 of 2009
Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this Act, the offense under this Act can be tried
according to the Mobile Court Act, 2009 (Act No. 59 of 2009).