India agrees with BD to export 7 food items

Staff Reporter :
Bangladesh is likely to get opportunity of importing designated quantities of seven food items under the specific annual quota from India at the end of this month.

Under the annual quota, Bangladesh will import 61.70 lakh tonnes of staple food items like rice, wheat, onion, garlic, ginger and pulses within the stipulated time.

Amid the global food crisis, Bangladesh initiates to increase the import of essential commodities from neighbouring countries with a view to strengthening food security.

Following this, Bangladesh expected that all procedures for importing the goods are likely to be completed during the ongoing visit of the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to the country.

As India is one of the largest exporting countries of this food items, Bangladesh requests the country to provide specific annual quota for the goods.

India agreed to fulfil Bangladesh’s request for the import of seven vital food commodities last month.

But the country set a condition to ensure the specified quantity is imported within the stipulated time, according to the Commerce Ministry sources.

They further said that India sets the conditions fearing it might lead to losses for its farmers, if Bangladesh does not import the designated quantities as specified in the quota.

Furthermore, India is also keen on implementing a time limit for the import of these commodities.

Particularly concerning onion, garlic, and ginger, there has been a significant focus on determining a specific timeframe.

This emphasis on setting a time limit is due to the challenges and costs associated with storing these perishable goods, the sources said.

On the other hand, the Bangladeshi delegation discussed the pricing and tariffs of these products.

They put forth a proposal suggesting that the prices of these commodities be set competitively in line with global market rates, they added.

Additionally, in cases where India applies extra tariffs due to exceptional circumstances, no additional levies should be imposed on goods imported under the quota system.

However, Indian authorities responded to Bangladesh’s proposal by stating that adherence to legal regulations is paramount and leaves no room for exceeding those boundaries.

Last month, Bangladesh submitted a report through the foreign ministry to the Indian authorities requesting an annual import quota for 15 lakh tonnes of rice and 25 lakh tonnes of wheat from India in order to protect its food security and stabilise prices amid concerns about potential supply disruptions caused by natural disasters and global crises.

The requested quota also included 10 lakh tonnes of sugar, 6 lakh tonnes of onions, 50,000 tonnes of garlic, and one lakh tonnes of ginger.

Subsequently, after discussions between the Ministry of Commerce and the Ministry of Agriculture and Food, adjustments were made to increase the quantities of some products.

Later, the commerce ministry recalibrated the volume of goods and communicated these adjustments to the Indian authorities via the foreign ministry.