Smuggled Indian sugar takes heavy toll on local industry

Staff Reporter :
The local refiners are worried over a significant increase in the illegal sugar imports from India as they think that the smuggling in of the item would destroy the domestic sugar industry as well as the government would lose a huge amount of revenues.

Bangladesh has recently experienced a significant increase in the illegal import of sugar and this surge comes in the wake of restrictions placed by India on their export due to limited domestic availability.

Protecting the local sugar industry, the refiners have sent letters to the National Board of Revenue (NBR) and the concerned officials requesting them to take comprehensive strategies and measures to curb the illegal imports.

In the letters, Bangladesh Sugar Refiners’ Association (BSRA) Secretary General Golam Rahman said that the sub-standard sugars have been entering the country illegally since last three months.

“Due to the illegal import of sugar, the government is losing revenues as well as the local sugar industry is suffering severely. If this continues, the destruction of the domestic industry is inevitable,” Rahman said.

He also said, “The sugar is coming illegally from India and is being sold in the local market by using 50 kg sacks without any sample testing is done by Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institution (BSTI).”

A similar letter has also been sent to the Commerce Ministry, Home Ministry, Bangladesh Trade and Tariff Commission, BSTI and the Directorate of the National Consumers’ Right Protection to take action against the sugar smugglers immediately.

Importers have to pay Tk 42,000 against per tonne to import sugar as duty and the government receipt over Tk 6,000 crore as revenue from the sugar import in the outgoing fiscal year.

Besides, the importers have to follow different types of government rules including LC opening, Customs duty payment to import unrefined sugar from other countries.

They also have to face closed-monitoring of the Tariff Commission, directorate of consumers’ right protection, competition commission and the Commerce Ministry to sell the refined sugar in the local market.

But the importers, who bring sugar from India illegally, don’t follow any of these rules. As a result, an uneven competition is being created among the businesses.

Five refiners-City group, Meghna, S Alam, Deshbandhu, and Abdul Monem Ltd-import unrefined sugar and after refining they sell in the local market.

Sugar is being smuggled through border areas, including Haluaghat, Dobaowara under Mymensingh, Durgapur and Kalmakanda of Netrakona, Kasba of Brahmanbaria and Sylhet.

The sweet substance from India is sold at different upazila and district markets as well.

The refiners complained that law-enforcement agencies and the government authorities concerned have not taken any step against the sale of smuggled sugar.

According to a source, law-enforcers are operating a drive against the smuggling in of sugar across the country.

The Indian Border Security Force has been seizing sugar while being smuggled into Bangladesh through different international borders, added industry insiders.

The annual demand for sugar in Bangladesh is 2.0-2.2 million tonnes. Some 2.2-2.4 million tonnes of raw sugar is imported annually.

Most of the local demand is met by private refiners.

More or less 50,000 tonnes of refined sugar is imported annually, according to the BTTC.