The Iodised Salt Bill, 2021, aiming to ensure proportionate use of iodine in salt and regulate the salt market in the country was placed in Parliament on Wednesday.

Industries minister Nurul Majid Humayun Mahmud placed the Bill and then it was sent to the respective Parliamentary Standing Committee for further scrutiny.

The Committee was asked to submit its report within seven days.

Under the proposed law, a 14-member national salt committee, headed by the industries secretary as its chairman, will be formed to oversee production, processing, refining, storage, transportation and marketing of salt, ensuring iodine use in salt, supply iodine to the salt factory, regulating salt import, as well as to place recommendations over salt management policy.

There will be a separate cell under the industries ministry to ensure the mixing of proportionate iodine in salt.

If anyone wants to produce, process, store, import, supply salt or set up a salt factory, the concerned person will have to get registered under the proposed law.

If anyone produces, processes and imports salt and runs iodised salt factory without registration, or doesn’t maintain the standard, the person will be sentenced to one to three years of jail and fined Tk 50,000-Tk 15 lakh or both.

The law violators can be punished through mobile courts.