Dhaka to enact law to make jute use compulsory

DHAKA - Bangladesh is set to enact a law to make use of jute compulsory in packaging certain commodities, taking a cue from a 1987 law enacted by India — also a major producer of the commodity — to raise domestic demand.

The move is also intended to meet the rise in demand for jute packaging in the international market.

The intended law would stipulate that jute sacks should be used for grains such as rice, wheat and other commodities such as sugar, fertiliser and cement.

Jute and Textile Secretary Ashraful Moqbul told New Age newspaper that the proposed law would be placed in parliament in the budget session next week.

Bangladesh and India are leading producers of jute who have faced dwindling markets at home and abroad.

Ministry officials examined India’s Jute Packaging Materials (Compulsory Use in Packing Commodities) Act 1987 to prepare the proposed law.

Sugar and grain producers in India have used jute sacks since the enactment of the law.

Experts here say Indian jute farmers benefited from the law.

India is now the No.1 jute-growing country ahead of Bangladesh,

Bangladesh produces 5.5 million bales (1 bale equals 180 kg) of raw jute every year compared with 7 million bales produced a decade ago.

There were about 80 jute mills in the country in the 1970s which employed about 250,000 people. Now less than 50,000 people work in the jute mills as only a handful of factories are in operation.

Jute experts say besides meeting the growing domestic demands, farmers would have to increase jute production to meet international demand, which has gone up substantially.

The higher demand for the jute has been attributed to it being environmentally-friendly.