Economic Reporetr :
The government will not allow beef imports for the sake of the local industry and will amend the existing law, if needed, says Livestock Minister Narayon Chandra Chanda.
“I discussed the matter with the commerce minister and he agreed. We are determined not to import beef,” he said at a media briefing on Wednesday.
Bangladesh’s annual demand for beef is some 7.9 million tonnes and the production last year stood at 7.1 million tonnes, according to Chanda.
“Local farmers as well as the whole industry will be ruined if the import is allowed.”
Citing data from the Tariff Commission, the media reported that almost 20 tonnes of beef were imported in fiscal 2016-17.
Frozen beef from India, Australia and Malaysia costs almost half the price of the locally-produced meat, according to media reports.
Replying to a query on the Tariff Commission report, the minister said he was not aware of the matter.
In a media briefing last year, the association of Dhaka-based meat traders opposed a plan to import beef from neighbouring India.
They said Indian beef may cost less in the beginning, but gradually it will control the whole market, just like the case of onion.
Selling beef is banned in several states of Hindu-majority India, where cows are considered holy.
India, however, is the second largest beef exporter, according to the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation.
India does not export cattle and any cross-border cattle trade between India and its neighbouring countries is considered illegal.
However, an estimated two million cows are smuggled into Bangladesh from India annually.
