Plastic boxes for transporting veggies become law

Wednesday, 2 February 2011 00:32 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

By Shezna Shums

A gazette notification issued by the Consumer Affairs Authority stipulates that beginning 1 February, plastic or hard boxes should used to transport agricultural produce such as vegetables and fruits.

With the use of plastic or hard boxes to store and transport vegetables and fruits, Agriculture Minister Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena hopes the public will get a chance to enjoy fresh fruits and vegetables before the Sinhala New Year.

The Ministry of Agriculture said that with the new requirement coming into effect, the use of gunny bags to transport fruits and vegetables would be stopped.

Storing and transporting fruits and vegetables in gunny bags results in a large amount of the agricultural produce going waste by the time they reach the market, thus resulting in the addition of the cost of the wasted produce to the retail price paid by the consumer.

By implementing this new regulation, the Ministry of Agriculture estimates that there will be no shortage of vegetables and fruits during the Sinhala New Year season when demand for food is high.

The long-term benefits of introducing the use of plastic or hard boxes to farmers, distributors and traders is expected to result in quality fruits and vegetables reaching the consumer. The quantity of the produce reaching the market too will be higher because wastage will be minimised.

As a first step in this direction, the Ministry of Agriculture along with Parliamentarian Namal Rajapaksa yesterday distributed plastic boxes to farmers and traders at the Hambantota Town Hall.

A unit of the Consumer Affairs Authority and the Police will track down and take action against persons who do not use plastic boxes when transporting fruits and vegetables.

According to the Consumer Affairs Authority, all producers, distributors and traders of locally produced vegetables and fruits must use plastic, hard paper or wooden boxes at the time of plucking, collecting, storing, transporting and displaying the local fruits and vegetables and each box must not weigh more than 25 kilos.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture, about 40 per cent of the harvested fruits and vegetables are damaged or perish from the time they are packed at the farms and arrive at the market place for sale to the public.

Johnny gives 1 month grace

THE Ministry of Cooperatives and Internal Trade said yesterday that farmers, distributors, wholesalers and traders would be allowed a grace period of one month to change over from the use of gunny bags to plastic or hard boxes when plucking, transporting and storing locally grown fresh vegetables and fruits.

Minister Johnston Fernando stated that the requirement of using plastic or hard boxes would remain in force from 1 February, but a grace period of one month would be allowed for farmers, distributors and traders to start buying and using these new boxes.

This move comes after farmers, distributors and traders made representations to the Minister, highlighting their difficulty in changing over to the new requirement immediately.

According to the Ministry, about 25 to 40 per cent of locally grown vegetables and fruits are damaged when they are inadequately packed when harvested, transported and stored.