BSTI fines ACI-Aftab, 6 other firms for selling fake products

Poultry and fish feed were being sold in the market without laboratory tests. Not only that, counterfeit toiletries, fake cosmetics and unauthorised sweets and yoghurt were being marketed using the names of popular brands. Such fraud and serious irregularities were uncovered in raids by the Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institution (BSTI).

The BSTI conducted operations through three separate mobile courts in the capital and adjoining Narayanganj on Sunday (July 26), revealing these irregularities. A total of seven establishments, including ACI Godrej and Aftab Feed, were fined Tk 14,80,000.

BSTI officials said three separate judicial teams conducted operations throughout the day in Rupganj of Narayanganj, and in Bashila and Hazaribagh areas of the capital.

In the operation conducted in Rupganj, Narayanganj, it was found that 'ACI Godrej AgroVet Private Limited' had been manufacturing, selling and distributing poultry and fish feed for a long time without obtaining BSTI quality certification and packaging registration certificates. 'Aftab Feed Products Limited' was found guilty of the same offence.

Both companies were fined Tk 4 lakh each — Tk 2 lakh under the BSTI Act-2018 and Tk 2 lakh under the Weights and Measures Standards Act-2018 — totalling Tk 8 lakh.

Additionally, 'Jiuzhou Industry Limited' was fined Tk 2 lakh (Tk 1 lakh under each of the two laws) for manufacturing lead-acid starter batteries without a quality certificate in the Tarabo area of Rupganj.

In the operation in the Bashila area of the capital, the mobile court uncovered alarming findings. Two establishments, 'Aman Consumer and Toiletries' and 'Standard Consumer and Toiletries', had been manufacturing and marketing substandard handwash and liquid toilet cleaners using names strikingly similar to popular brands like Lizol, Harpic and Vim. The two firms were fined a total of Tk 3,50,000.

In the Hazaribagh area, a showroom named 'Mithai' was fined Tk 1 lakh for selling sweets, biscuits and vermicelli without quality certification. Another establishment, 'Opurbo Ananda Jal Khabor', was fined Tk 30,000 for marketing sweets and yoghurt without BSTI approval.

BSTI said the mobile courts were conducted by Executive Magistrate Sabekun Nahar in Rupganj, Executive Magistrate Lutfunnesa Khanam in Bashila, and Executive Magistrate Md Mahbubul Islam in Hazaribagh.

Among others present during the operations were BSTI Deputy Director K M Hanif, Assistant Director (Metrology) Md Rakibul Alam, and Field Officers Md Rashed Al Mamun, Borhan Uddin and Sumaiya Afroz Liza.