Kazi Zahidul Hasan :
Bangladesh Dairy Farmers Association (BDFA) has urged the government to halt import of meat in order to protect the local cattle farmers and help flourish the domestic livestock sector.
The association came up with the call in a letter to the Commerce Ministry on 24 January this year.
In the letter, it also recommended to the government to scrap import of frozen buffalo meat from India under SAFTA deal for greater interest of the country’s bourgeoning meat processing and dairy industries.
The association alleged that a section of traders used to import frozen meat declaring it for use of five star hotels and embassies but sold it in the retail markets. “They are also evading tax by lowering the quantity of the meat consignments”.
Besides, the frozen meat is entering the country without proper laboratory test and quality control, posing a potential health risk with local consumers, it added.
In this situation, BDFA suggested the government to introduce the mandatory “Phytosanitation Certificates” in importing meat entrusting the task to the Bangladesh Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (BCSIR).
It also requested the authorities to take appropriate measures to issue halal certificates for Bangladeshi exporters.
Apart from India, Bangladesh imports frozen meat from Ethiopia, France, Korea, Thailand, China, United Arab Emirates, USA, Pakistan, Nepal, Myanmar, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia.
Bangladesh witnessed a huge surge in cattle farming after the ban on Indian cattle trade in 2014.
In addition, this sector involves 522,000 commercial farms and 3.7 million households. Around 15 million people are directly engaged with livestock production and indirectly it affects another 25 million people, according to industry insiders.
“The livestock sector has been flourishing very significantly in the last few years. This sector has been contributing to raising cattle farming, employment generation and meeting the protein demand of Bangladeshi people.
Besides, the number of cattle production has increased manifold in recent years which has resulted in reducing the cattle import from the neighboring countries,” an official of Fisheries and Livestock Ministry told The New Nation yesterday.
He added Bangladeshi has already achieved self-sufficiency in meat production. Meat is still being imported from various countries.
When asked, the official said, “The government is working on a proposal to ban frozen meat import in order to promote and sustain local production and saving foreign currency”.
The annual meat consumption in Bangladesh is 7.3 million tons, against which the country is producing 7.6 million tons, according to the Department of Livestock Services (DLS).
Moreover, almost 100% of the demand for sacrificial animals during Eid-ul-Azha is being met with locally reared livestock.
Meanwhile, India has urged Bangladesh to withdraw the 20 per cent supplementary duty imposed on import of frozen boneless bovine meat from India along with reinstatement of the previous assessment rate for import of the same.
On 13 January this year, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs received a Note Verbale in this regard from the High Commission of India in Dhaka.
The note stated that under the Trade Liberalization Programme of SAFTA, imports of frozen boneless bovine meat (HS Code: 0202) is eligible for preferential access and is outside the sensitive list under SAFTA concessions.
“However, in the National Budget of Bangladesh for fiscal year 2021-22 introduced a supplementary duty along with an increase in the assessment value from US$4.0/kg to US$5.0/kg for the HS Code: 0202. This effectively nullifies the SAFTA benefit available to Indian exporters,” it said.
