The country is likely to suffer a serious blow as the European Union (EU) has warned that it might impose restriction on vegetables and fruits shipment from Bangladesh for non-compliance of the EU’s phytosanitary requirements. Earlier, in June 2013, the US suspended trade privileges for Bangladesh after a review exposed serious shortcomings in safety and labour standards and the country is yet to regain the GSP facilities that subsequently affected export volumes to the US market. Truly it will be worrisome for the country’s exports if we fail to meet the standard of the EU.
The thought provoking news came in a National English daily on Wednesday that said European Commission’s Health and Consumers Directorate General in a letter to Bangladesh Ambassador in Belgium in June said that the Commission would impose a ban if steps were not taken for improvement in ensuring export of harmful organism-free fruits and vegetables before September 30. The warning comes in the face of rising incidents of pest detection in export consignment from Bangladesh, and fraudulence in phytosanitary certificates that confirm shipments have met certain requirements of importers. The EU countries have found such certificates were fake or missing in a number of consignments. The European bloc earlier in February this year suspended imports of betel leaves from Bangladesh for bacterial contamination.
According to Export Promotion Bureau (EPB), export receipts from vegetables and fruits rose 15 percent year-on-year to $209 million in fiscal 2013-14. More than half of the exports are meant for the EU, mainly the United Kingdom, targeting the Bangladeshis living there. The EU countries detected harmful organisms in vegetables and fruits in 270 consignments between 2011 and 2014. Some 211 consignments were detected with fake or no phytosanitary certificates during the period. The bloc considers gourds, eggplants, citruses and amaranthus as critical commodities that contained harmful organisms.
There is no reason to take the EU threat flippantly as the union banned the import of fruits from India on health safety grounds some months back. And in response to the warning, the government has formed an action plan, and according to the action plan the government has suspended three dishonest exporters, and taken steps to increase inspectors at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport where a central warehouse would be built to check every consignment before shipment.
Unfortunately, a section of Bangladeshi businesses do not adhere to the safety and quality requirements expressed by the EU over the export of vegetables carrying harmful organisms; they tend to take things rather casually as they do in the case of domestic market. We ask the authorities concerned to take immediate action against the negligent exporters and take the warning seriously as the way is wide open to our exports of agricultural products to the lucrative markets of Europe.
