Swapan Kumar Singh :

Bangladesh has introduced a new regulatory framework aimed at strengthening food safety across the country, making registration or licensing mandatory for nearly all food-related businesses, from roadside food vendors to large-scale food manufacturers and importers.

Under the Safe Food (Registration and Licensing) Regulations, 2026, published on July 16, the Bangladesh Food Safety Authority (BFSA) has outlined comprehensive measures to improve food quality, curb adulteration, and ensure effective monitoring throughout the food supply chain—from production to marketing.

According to the new regulations, food businesses have been divided into two categories: registration and licensing.

Businesses such as restaurants, bakeries, pastry shops, fruit juice outlets, catering services, dairy product

manufacturers, confectionery shops, and packaged food producers will be required to obtain registration. Roadside and mobile food vendors selling traditional snacks, pitha, puri, onion fritters and other ready-to-eat foods will also be brought under the registration system.

Meanwhile, companies involved in the production of infant formula, foods for special medical or nutritional needs, organic and fortified foods, genetically modified (GMO) products, and irradiated food items will be required to obtain licenses.

Private food warehouses and cold storage facilities will also fall under the licensing framework.

The regulations stipulate that both registrations and licenses will remain valid for three years. Registration fees will start from Tk1,000, while renewal fees and licensing charges will vary depending on the size and nature of the business.

BFSA Member (Enforcement) Md Anwarul Islam Sarkar said the authority will initially focus on monitoring large industries and major food production facilities to ensure compliance with the new regulations.

Even businesses that already hold certifications from BSTI and other recognised agencies will remain under our supervision, he said.

He added that the BFSA would independently monitor food quality, production processes and supply chains beyond existing certification mechanisms. The authority is also taking steps to appoint 25 senior food safety officers at four key ports to detect food adulteration and false declarations in imported food products.

Officials believe the new regulations will significantly strengthen the country’s food safety system and provide consumers with greater protection by ensuring access to safe and quality food products.