Entrepreneurs should not be penalized more than 10,000 rupees: FNCCI Senior Vice President Shrestha

KATHMANDU:Anjan Shrestha, senior vice-president of the Federation of Nepalese Industries and Commerce, has stated that traders and businessmen who violate laws and regulations should not face fines exceeding 10,000 rupees.

On Monday, during a hearing of the House of Representatives' Agriculture, Cooperatives, and Natural Resources Committee to examine the food hygiene law, he stated that it is unreasonable to set the punishment maximum for traders at more than 10,000 rupees.

Fines and punishments above 10,000 are inappropriate in the context of law enforcement and should be limited to that amount. He stated while presenting a suggestion in the bill that because the punishment of imprisonment and excessive fines is deemed unfair, and compensation will be paid if the consumer's health is harmed as a result of the consumption of contaminated or low-quality food, the provision of imprisonment and excessive fines should be removed.

Senior Vice President Shrestha believes that there should be a legal provision to reveal the maximum best before date (best before date) level for consumption in packaged food goods.

Similarly, he stated that the provisions of the Bill are that contamination and adulteration are the same; however, if an item is adulterated, the provisions of the Act must be altered, and separate provisions for contamination and adulteration should be created.