A NATIONAL daily on Monday reported that due to the time needed for the cargo screening process in Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport, exporters are incurring huge losses due to lengthy shipment of vegetables, fishes and other perishable items. Strict screening measures were put in place at the airport on March 21 after the UK government imposed a ban on direct cargo flights from Dhaka citing lapses in cargo screening. Despite the signing of an agreement with the UK based Redline Aviation Security Co to upgrade the screening, the time-consuming physical screening of goods may have dangerous consequences, especially because the buyers may start looking for alternative sources for the fresh kitchen items. The exporters are in fear of losing the markets in Europe, America and Middle-East countries for frequent delays due to the timely departure of flights which are not in sync with the times needed to screen cargo. As the international gateway, the airport should be well-equipped with surveillance equipment.As per the report, only four scanners have to screen more than 800 tonnes of goods every day which are causing delays in the shipping process. Many exporters are missing the supply deadline due to the lingering process, making them worry about whether the buyers would again place orders. The quality of the perishable goods falls due to the delay. Previously, it took 17-18 hours for the shipments to arrive at the airport and to reach any European destinations. But now, it takes nearly two days as flights are often missed due to time “wasted” in screening.Exporters said that they need an additional day for exporting goods to the UK, causing at least 20 percent quality loss of the goods. Before the ban, Bangladesh used to export 80-100 tonnes of vegetables and fruits to the UK every day but it now has come down to 50-70 tonnes. In February, 2,135 tonnes of vegetables and fruits out of 12,993 tonnes were exported by air but the quantity was falling drastically due to the lengthy screening process. The airline companies have started re-screening of goods in a third country– like Dubai, Qatar, Hong Kong and Bangkok which makes the exporters worry that they would have to face an imposition of additional charges. So, the exporters have to wait twice for their goods to be screened — first at the Shahjalal Airport and then at another one in some other countries.The exporters also complained that they are facing space crisis in shipping goods to the UK in flights operated by foreign airlines. The national flag carrier Biman carries a big chunk of the export items from Dhaka to the UK but it is not enough. The government should take the matter into consideration to ease the screening process by installing surveillance equipment immediately. All-out steps are needed to increase exports of vegetables, fish, and other perishable items.
