Cabinet okays bill for mandatory use of jute in packaging

17 June 2010, 18:00 PM

Staff Correspondent

The cabinet yesterday approved a draft bill seeking to make mandatory the use of jute in packaging various commodities. Once the bill is enacted as a law, all government and non-government organisations engaged in production and distribution of food, agricultural inputs, sugar and fertiliser will have to use jute materials in packaging their products. The cabinet nod to the draft bill titled 'Compulsory usage of jute in packaging of all products 2010' came in the wake of a breakthrough advancement in the jute sector, as Bangladeshi researchers successfully decoded the genome of the natural fibre, opening up scopes to develop new jute varieties and expand its use. "The bill will be placed in parliament soon for its passage," Prime Minister's Press Secretary Abul Kalam Azad told reporters after the cabinet meeting held at the secretariat in the city. In the parliament session yesterday, Jute and Textile Minister Abdul Latif Siddiqui said the government has implemented a project through jute directorate on how to grow more jute on less land and how to achieve self-sufficiency in production of quality seeds. Under the project covering 100 upazilas in 35 districts, 5000 selected farmers received training. SMS text messages were sent to them to encourage them to grow jute, the minister said, adding that the government is also assisting farmers in getting agriculture loans. The Jute Research Institute has also taken various measures to develop jute varieties and farm tools. The research will be intensified in the future, he said. He also said the jute ministry is working with the LGRD and communications ministries to manage water bodies besides highways so that farmers can put jute stems there for jute processing. The minister also said decoding of jute genome would immensely help increase use of jute.