A team comprising officials of the Department of Environment in the presence of joint forces will test the presence of formalin in the imported fish and certify accordingly.

Following a opinion exchange meeting on the problem of formalin-treated fish at Cox's Bazar yesterday, Secretary of the Ministry of Environment and Forest SM Jahirul Islam instructed the authorities concerned to start testing imported fish.

Secretary of the Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock, Magistrate Rokon Ud-Doula, local civil and police officials, representatives from Bangladesh Rifles, Navy, Coast Guard, Customs, Department of Fisheries, Fish Research Institute and fish importers Babul and Masud Ahmed, president of Cox's Bazar press club were present, among others, at the meeting presided over by Cox's Bazar Deputy Commissioner Mohammad Aminul Haque.

The meeting recommended establishment of a permanent laboratory for testing the presence of formalin and other toxic chemicals in imported fish, setting up a data-base of fish import from Myanmar, check fish smuggling, inland drive against formalin etc, reports our Cox's Bazar correspondent.

The recommendations will be presented to the fisheries and livestock adviser on Sunday and rules to address formalin problem effectively would be formulated accordingly.