The Office of the Consumer Protection (OCP) and Bhutan Agriculture and Food Regulatory Authority (BAFRA) will now collaborate to ensure consumers are protected from unsafe food. They will team up on activities such as food testing, a timely inspection of food, and encourage labelling of packaged food. A memorandum of understanding was also signed today between the two offices.
Imagine you are suspicious about the quality of rice or milk you bought from the Centenary Farmers Market. Now even if you call the OCP to complain, the OCP does not have the equipment or the expertise to check and regulate the matter. It is at these times, the collaboration between the two offices will come in handy.
“We are receiving a lot of complaints related to food adulteration and also the expiry of food. For that, BAFRA has expertise in terms of testing equipment and laboratories. They are the experts in terms of quality aspects. We depend on their expertise. So we collaboratively resolve these issues. And our objective is to provide quick and timely redressal to the aggrieved consumers,” said Sonam Tenzin, the Director of OCP.
The two offices officially joined forces today to communicate and share limited resources to draw correct measures and compensate the aggrieved.
“We both deal with food. And more so specifically, the OCP deal with food prices so that the consumers get a fair share of what they are spending. BAFRA also has a similar role but our role is more into food quality, food safety, and regulatory aspects in terms of diseases. We believe by this collaboration, we can utilise the limited human and other resources together. While OCP does a certain part of the job, they can also take some of our responsibilities and share information because this is very much linked,” said Tashi Samdup, the Director-General of BAFRA.
The OCP will also consult the BAFRA while assessing unfair trade practices and detain and dispose of food and while imposing penalties.
“The collaboration of the two agencies is very important because otherwise if the OCP doesn’t know what BAFRA is doing from production, from quality and certification, then how will the OCP assess the market? That is why the understanding between the two agencies is very important. If we do not ensure what we eat is of the utmost quality, safe and affordable in line with the quality, then it is going to be problematic,” said Loknath Sharma, the Economic Affairs Minister.
Over 30 shops in Thimphu were penalised by the OCP during the second lockdown for unfair trade practices. They were found increasing the prices on commodities and selling expired items.
With the two agencies coming together to ensure food safety and proper regulations, consumers can now expect the right, safe, fair, and accurate market information.
Tshering Dendup
