Bangladesh has resumed exports of vegetables to the United Kingdom after scanner trouble halted the shipment of farm products for nearly a month.
Frustrated businesses, however, say they have already lost the market in the UK due to the long gap and it will be difficult for them to get it back.
Countries need to use an explosive detection system approved by the UK Department for Transport to ship agricultural products to Britain. Bangladesh had two such scanners, reports bdnews24.com.
Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka has four EDSs and two X-ray scanners. Two of the EDSs were approved by the UK and one of them has been out of order for a year.
Vegetable exports to the UK came to a halt after the other EDS stopped working on Mar 9.
Finally, the UK approved the two other scanners at the Dhaka airport and exports resumed after the latest notice arrived on Tuesday, said Group Captain Kamrul Islam, the recently appointed executive director of the airport.
“The scanners are working in full swing and shipments have been sent [to the UK],” he said on Thursday.
The work to repair the non-functional EDS was also ongoing, he said.
President of Bangladesh Fruits, Vegetables and Allied Products Exporters’ Association SMA Zahangir Hossain said the exports resumed on Wednesday.
He claimed the 28-day disruption in exports caused “irreparable” damage to Bangladesh’s market in the UK. “India has captured parts of the market. It will be difficult to get it back.”
“A country importing some goods will somehow continue the import. They do not sit idle,” he said.
Bangladeshi businesses in the UK said exporters were only able to send produce worth £32 million against an annual demand of £100 million. If Bangladeshi vegetables can be supplied to Turkish, African and East European businesses in the UK, then the market will be worth £500 million.