A Canadian buyer has sought refund on an order of medical masks from two Bangladeshi suppliers, claiming that the suppliers delivered non-medical and poor-quality products. Busrel Medical, a Canadian company, alleged that it ordered medical masks worth $10 million from two Bangladeshi companies – Moontaha Sourcing Ltd and Silverene Apparels Ltd – and after the companies supplied only 5 per cent of the total order, the products were found to be of non-medical standard and poor quality, sources said.
Busrel Medical, the official supplier of personal protective equipment during the Covid-19 pandemic in Quebec and Alberta provinces of Canada, sought support from the government of Bangladesh to resolve the commercial dispute that had been going on for two months. The government has assigned the investigation to the Export Promotion Bureau to resolve the issue.
The responsibility of checking whether the supplier was a member of BGMEA (Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association) and BGBHA (Bangladesh Garment Buying House Association) lay with the buyer before it put forward such a large order. Also why didn’t the buyers ask the companies involved to figure out whether they could make high quality masks in the first place?
The manufacturers said they will follow next course of move according to the EPB recommendations. They also said that they would refund the rest US$7.9 million if EPB suggests. But the manufacturers have also alleged that the buyer had asked for the refund after making nine shipments worth $2.1 million. The manufacturer raised the question — and rightly so, as to why the buyer did not raise the question over quality once they received the first shipment.
This raises the possibility of the allegation of the seller that the buyer is now asking for the refund as the price of surgical masks have fallen down in recent times and they are taking the products from other countries at a lower rate. We should not be too quick to judge our companies for producing substandard items when it has been proven that we have world class ability to produce other items.
As the government itself survives through corruption including election robbery so it is of no use asking the government to probe. Who will probe? Which institution has remained untouched by corruption? The system of government that survives on corruption has to be changed.
