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Journalism of Courage
It8217;s a landmark in the country8217;s regulatory history. Barely a year after the Centre for Science and Environment CSE found pesticides in soft-drink bottles, the Ministry of Health has mandated that the quality of water used for manufacturing Coke and Pepsi meet EU standards.
While the companies had seen this coming, what has them sweating is a draft notification by the Bureau of Indian Standards BIS.
If it were to become law 8212; making it a global first 8212; the end product would have to meet pesticide norms that match EU levels for water. The draft standards lay down pH and caffeine levels with labelling requirements.
COMPANY COLA
Soft-drink and water companies have had a hectic year. First, from January 1, EU standards became applicable for packaged water.
Now, soft-drink companies have to clean up the source water. If the BIS draft norms become law, firms will have to ensure that sugar, additives and preservatives meet global standards.
Reactions range from complete denial that pesticide is present in soft-drinks to the validity of the BIS notification. The companies officially do not admit they have spent money in making changes in their manufacturing systems. 8216;8216;We were already complying with our previous systems, we just ensured that with the standards coming, they are fool-proof now,8217;8217; said a spokesperson from PepsiCo.
Now that the government has laid down the specifications for the input water, companies are grinning and bearing it 8212; and focussing on the next round of battle. And that8217;s going to be a tough one. For, the firms would have to ensure that preservatives, additives and the sugar they use has no pesticides.
The cola majors argue that elsewhere in the world, it is the process that is laid down, documented and audited by the regulators. Not the final product.
Consumer group CSE has a counter 8212; if there are no standards for the finished product, then how can the regulator check if the product is safe? CSE has a host of products 8212; like cheese and jam 8212; where there are standards for the final produce the world over.
CONSUMER COLA
Consumer groups have got a shot in the arm from the Health Ministry norms. Recently, the Consumer Coordination Council CCC, a coalition of 55 consumer groups, and CONCERT, Chennai, got together with CSE to demand that the BIS notification be made law. 8216;8216;The companies can spend crores of rupees on Aamir Khan, why can8217;t they spend the same money buying state-of-the art equipment for manufacturing these drinks,8217;8217; asks Bijon Mishra of CCC.
The consumer groups are saying that if the 8216;8216;polluter-pays-principle8217;8217; is to be kept in mind, then there have to be standards against which they can be judged. 8216;8216;We are not against business. So, don8217;t throw figures of how much FDI we8217;re going to lose 8212; we only want a safe product,8217;8217; said Mishra.
The BIS committee on carbonated beverages had representatives from the soft- drinks industry, industry associations, consumer and environmental groups and leading scientists,all of whom worked for the last eight months to release the draft.
According to CSE, the companies now cannot claim that they were not a part of the BIS draft. Clearly, this is just the first round in this fight to the finish.
