Commerce ministry forms task force to prevent hoarding, curb commodity price hikes

The commerce ministry has formed a nine-member task force to prevent hoarding of goods in large kitchen markets, godowns, cold storage and other stages of the supply chain with an aim to keep the prices of daily necessities at a reasonable level.

The ministry's Commodity Price Review and Forecasting Cell issued a notification in this regard today (7 October).

The task force will be headed by an additional district commissioner as the convener.

Other members include, an additional superintendent of Bangladesh Police, a district food controller or an appropriate representative, a district livestock officer, a district fisheries officer, an agricultural marketing officer, a Consumers Association of Bangladesh (CAB) representative, two student representatives and an assistant director of the Directorate of National Consumer Rights Protection (DNCRP).

An officer of the DNCRP will serve as the member secretary of this task force which will work in all districts of the country.

The formation of the task force comes as prices of some daily essentials, including green chillies, eggs, rice and vegetables, continued to rise in recent months.

According to the ministry notification, the task force will mainly work to keep the price of daily necessities in the market at a reasonable level. For this purpose, kitchen markets, warehouses, godowns, and cold storages will be inspected on a regular basis.

The task force will ensure that price differentials from producer to consumer are kept at a minimum and will hold discussions with all stakeholders concerned.

After daily monitoring, this committee will provide information to the Commodity Price Review and Forecast Cell of the ministry and the DNCRP every day.