Unlicensed food businesses face up to 5 years in jail

The Bangladesh Food Safety Authority (BFSA) has issued the Safe Food Regulations, 2026, making BFSA registration and licensing mandatory for all types of food businesses, from street vendors to supermarkets. While the initiative to bring greater discipline to the food sector has been welcomed, business owners say the new requirement amounts to an ‘18th license burden’ on top of the approvals they already need from 17 government agencies. They fear that overlapping regulations and bureaucratic complexities will increase business costs, with the financial burden ultimately falling on consumers.

Under the new regulations, the entire food business sector has been divided into two main categories. General restaurants, bakeries, fruit juice bars, pastry shops, catering services, sweet shops, dairy product manufacturers, vendors selling traditional rice cakes and fried bread, as well as mobile street vendors, will be required to obtain registration. Meanwhile, businesses dealing with infant food, food for elderly people or special medical purposes, fortified food, organic products, genetically modified (GMO) food, irradiated food products, cold storage facilities, and wholesale and import of edible oil will be required to obtain a license subject to stricter conditions.

Both registrations and licenses will remain valid for three years. The registration fee has been set at Tk 1,000, while license fees will be determined based on the floor area of the business establishment. The fee will range from Tk 1,000 for small shops to a maximum of Tk 40,000 for large warehouses. Every food product package, invoice, and letterhead must clearly display the license number, identification code, or QR code. According to the regulations, operating an unregistered food business in violation of the rules will be punishable by a maximum prison term of two to four years or a fine ranging from Tk 200,000 to Tk 800,000. Operating a business without a license will be punishable by a maximum prison term of three to five years or a fine ranging from Tk 300,000 to Tk 1.2 million.

Kamruzzaman Kamal, Marketing Director of Pran RFL Group, described the new regulations as an ‘18th license burden’ on businesses. He said that food manufacturers and importers currently need approvals from around 17 different government offices and agencies just to operate. “The objective is good, but this process of repeatedly paying fees and obtaining registrations from multiple agencies does not improve product quality. It only unnecessarily increases the cost of doing business.” He also questioned whether the BFSA has the institutional and technological capacity to properly implement the new regulations.

A H M Shafiquzzaman, President of the Consumers Association of Bangladesh (CAB), raised serious concerns about the implementation of the law at the field level. According to him, the Food Safety Authority does not have sufficient capacity or manpower to oversee the country’s vast formal and informal food sectors, from street vendors to supermarkets. He also noted that several government agencies are already monitoring the market, raising questions about how reasonable it is to place all administrative authority under a single institution. He expressed concern that if licensing and registration increase business operating costs, consumers will ultimately bear the burden, creating a new challenge for ordinary people amid ongoing inflation.

Responding to the concerns raised by business representatives, Anwarul Islam Sarker, a member of the Bangladesh Food Safety Authority, said that the agency will initially focus on large scale industrial food production rather than placing immediate pressure on small businesses or street vendors. He added that businesses already approved by organizations such as the Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institution (BSTI) will not face any immediate difficulties. However, the BFSA will continue to conduct its own independent food quality testing.