Besides non-cooperation from the law-enforcing agencies, lack of manpower within the BSTI is another cause, which is holding back its drive against illegal goods, said the sources.

Although the BSTI geared up its drive against substandard and fake goods since the beginning of the Ramadan, most of the shop owners in the city are still selling goods without BSTI seal.

Sources in the BSTI said on-duty magistrates are sometimes reluctant to go for harsh punishment against the sellers of substandard goods under the newly promulgated 'Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institution Amendment Act 2003'.

BSTI license is mandatory for 142 imported and homemade goods including pineapple juice, toilet soap, coconut oil, white bread, biscuits, soyabean oil, flour, iodized salt, lachcha shemai (vermicelli), toothpaste, noodles, shaving cream, natural mineral water, etc.

The new Act authorises the BSTI to fine Tk 7,000 in the minimum and to a maximum of Tk one lakh and award four years' imprisonment for selling substandard and fake goods.

It was found that some posh department stores in the city are selling imported goods without taking permission from the BSTI.

It was also found that some shop owners were selling different consumer goods without any label on the packet.

According to the BSTI rule, packet of any product must contain the dates of production and expiry, net ingredients of the product, price and product code number.

In a recent drive, the BSTI fined Tk 7,000--20,000 to some department stores located in the city's Dhanmondi area.

The law enforcing agencies have been cooperative with the BSTI in the month of Ramadan but the rest of the year the BSTI hardly gets any cooperation from the law enforcing agencies, said BSTI sources.

The BSTI sent a proposal to the establishment ministry seeking eight magistrates on a regular basis to continue its drive against substandard and fake goods all the year round, said a BSTI official.

Ashraful Huda, Police Commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) denied the allegation of BSTI and said, "We have deployed sufficient police force with every mobile court of the BSTI."

"We are always cooperating with the BSTI and ready to deploy police force whenever they seek help," he added.

Admitting the presence of substandard goods in the markets, Director General of BSTI A B M Abdul Haque Chowdhury said, "It is true that the BSTI has some limitations but currently we are getting benefits of newly promulgated amendment act."

"We are running three projects for strengthening testing facilities of the BSTI and have procured some equipment under those project," he added.

He also said the BSTI needs help of all including the law enforcing agencies in the drive against substandard goods.