Bangladesh Food Safety Authority

The BFSA struggles to enforce food safety standards due to staff vacancies and a lack of dedicated laboratory facilities.

BFSA was constituted on 2 February 2015 under Section 5 of the Food Safety Act, 2013 (enacted 10 October 2013), replacing fragmented prior legislation including the Pure Food Ordinance 1959. It operates as an autonomous statutory body under the Ministry of Food, distinct from DGFood (which handles procurement and distribution) and from BSTI (which handles standards and quality under the Ministry of Industries). The authority is governed by a five-member decision-making body and its mobile courts are presided over by executive magistrates. Chairman Md Anwarul Islam Sarkar confirmed at the 8th National Scientific Conference on Food Safety and Health (May 9, 2026), where he appeared as BFSA Chairman. Previous chairman identified as 'Mr Zakaria' (appointed March 2024 per Wikipedia); Md Anwarul Islam Sarkar's precise appointment date could not be confirmed from available primary sources -- head_since left null. Staff count of 309 is the sanctioned officer strength across all posts as reported in the Prothom Alo investigative piece (February 2024); 19 of these are headquarters-level posts (chairman, members, secretary, directors). BFSA has no independent testing laboratory as of the latest available information; sample analysis is outsourced to BFSA-accredited external labs. Fiscal year 2022-23 enforcement record: 165 mobile court drives, 136 persons prosecuted, Tk 1.59 crore in fines, 11,754 food establishments inspected, 1,070 samples tested (91 non-compliant). Restaurant grading program: only 306 restaurants graded over five years against approximately 436,000 operating nationally, a structural gap flagged by Prothom Alo. Ramadan 2026 enforcement: BFSA district offices in Pabna and Sylhet documented training of iftar food workers on safe preparation practices. Mobile court fine amounts in the 90-day window are confirmed from BSS primary reports: Rajshahi (Tk 5 lakh, Feb 6), Rangpur (Tk 90,000, Feb 26), Chattogram two operations (Tk 210,000 on Mar 1, Tk 310,000 on Mar 5). All four enforcement actions verified against BSS district bureau reports.