PATNA: The state health department's food safety wing will from Monday start nabbing traders found selling smokeless tobacco products other than raw tobacco, or 'khaini'. The department on Saturday also issued a notification, giving 15 days to dealers of smokeless tobacco products to shift their produce out of Bihar. The notification follows a Supreme Court order on Friday that upheld the ban on these items ordered by the state government.
After May 24, even transportation of such products to other states will be declared illegal. However, one will not be allowed to sale tobacco products during this 15-day window period. "Raids will start from Monday to check whether this window period is being misused for selling the products," said health secretary cum food safety commissioner Anand Kishor.
All tobacco products other than bidi, cigarette and 'khaini' were banned by the state government on November 7 last. Packaged 'khaini', which is mixed with additives; scented areca nut and scented tobacco (pan masala, zarda) or any chewable tobacco product, whether packaged or unpackaged, are included in the list of banned items.
An FIR will be lodged against anyone found selling the banned products. The accused will be arrested and sent to jail. The seized sample will be sent to food safety lab. If it is found to have contained any banned chemical, the accused can be awarded life imprisonment and Rs five lakh fine. If it is proved that a death occurred due to consumption of that product, the punishment can be stricter, said Mukesh Kashyap, a food safety officer posted at Patna.
However, implementing the ban may prove an uphill task for the food safety wing as it faces acute shortage of manpower. There are only 14 food safety officials for the state's 38 districts. The food safety wing has requested the state government to sanction 500 posts. "In the meantime, the food safety commissioner may designate district administration officials to conduct the raids," a food safety wing official said.
There are also issues concerning the food safety lab. The lab at Agamkuan has been non-functional for long. After seizure of a sample, it is only a food analyst who is mandated to do necessary investigation. That post is also lying vacant. Also, food safety norms say such sample testing can be done only at a National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratory-accredited lab and the Aghamkuan lab lacks such accreditation.
"The food safety wing has already written to its central counterpart to send a project management agency to upgrade the Aghamkuan lab. For the time being, we send samples to a Kolkata-based lab," an official said and added these odds would not hamper the implementation of the ban.
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