City Desk :
The Directorate of National Consumer Rights Protection has prohibited the sale of all items obtained from Saudi Arabia for charitable purposes, including the holy water of Makkah’s Zamzam Well.
The DNCRP also cautioned against using religious sentiments and showy ads to get consumers to buy Saudi-sourced items such as dates and perfume.
The decision came in a meeting of the DNCRP with businessmen at its office in the capital on Sunday, reports media.
DNCRP Director Fakir Mohammad Munawar Hossain said: “Charity products from Saudi Arabia cannot be sold in the country.
Zamzam water is brought here as a charitable commodity. It cannot be marketed in the country using showy ads.”
Anyone caught selling dates or olive oil imported from Saudi Arabia may risk criminal prosecution.
Businesses that capitalize on religious feelings must be prohibited, he added.
He said Bangladesh prohibits the sale of Zamzam water. This water is for personal use only.
In the meeting, date importer Sirajul Islam expressed his apprehension saying: “Due to the imposition of high tax on the import of dates, traders may not be able to supply dates in accordance with the demand in the upcoming month of Ramadan.”
“I opened an LC (letter of credit) for the import of 21,000 tons of dates last year. But this year I still could not get an LC for importing 7,000 tons of dates. Because it requires an extra Tk15-16 crore,” he added.
