Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institution (BSTI) has brought some 43 new products under mandatory licencing to ensure availability of quality products in the market.
The firms will have to put BSTI standard mark in the labels, packages or containers of the products.
The BSTI, an organisation under the ministry of industries, issued a gazette notification, dated January 31, 2021, with the names of the products.
The products include shoes (physical), liquid handwash, alchohol-based hand sanitizer, float glass, cotton sharee (handloom), handloom cotton lungi cloth, potato chips, corn flakes, gold, ultra-high temperature (UHT) milk, flavoured milk, ice lolly, artificially flavoured drinks and oats.
As per the gazette, companies will have to ensure that the items are made in compliance with the country's national standards.
As per the BSTI, the sales, distribution and commercial advertisement of the products without the standard mark will be prohibited.
The ban will come into effect after two months from the date of gazette notification, it said.
Earlier, there were 184 products that need to secure BSTI licences before releasing in the local market.
Talking to the FE on Thursday, BSTI director (Certification Marks) Sajjadul Bari said with the latest 43 items, a total of 227 products would require the certification for marketing purposes.
He said that although the BSTI sets standard mark for 4,000 items, but all cannot be brought under mandatory licencing due to lack of logistics support and scarce of manpower.
"We have to monitor compliances of the firms as it would be punishable offence for not complying with the BSTI order," he added.
The BSTI gazette will also be applicable for the imported products.
Among the items, there are a blend of skimmed milk and vegetable-fat in powdered form, flavoured milk, artificial flavoured drink, low fat milk, synthetic vinegar, natural hena/mehedy, synthetic colour paste, household dishwashing liquid, floor liquid detergent, liquid toilet cleaner, disposable razor blades, hollow clay bricks and blocks, concrete paving blocks-requirements and test methods, unplasticized polyvinylchloride (PVC-U) profiles for the fabrication of windows and doors-classification, requirements and test methods, plastic piping systems-polyethylene (PE) pipes and fittings used for water supply, nail polish, AC electric ventilating fans and regulators for household and similar purposes, direct mould sole boots for general purpose, truck and bus tyres and rims, passenger car tyres and rims, motorcycle tyres and rims, water for use in secondary batteries, power transformers, photovoltaic devices, battery change controllers for photovoltaic system, cross linked polyethylene insulated PVC sheathed cables, specification for containers for packaging of mineral waters and drinking water, rotational moulded polyethylene water storage tanks, glass tableware, absorbent cotton, specification for energy-efficiency rating of household refrigerators, refrigerator-freezers and freezers.