Bangladesh has conditionally relaxed the mandatory requirement of performing fumigation of the cotton imported from the United States, an official order said on Sunday.
With the relaxation, the fumigation requirement of imported cotton from the US can be relaxed at the port of entry here following arrival after showing sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) and boll weevil-free certificates of the US exporting authorities.
The Ministry of Commerce has taken the decision according to the Imports and Exports (Control) Act 1950, and has recently issued a notification in this regard.
A local spinner said fumigation and clearance need at least five days. The total process causes congestion of goods at Chattogram Port and also adds 3.0-4.0 cents in cost of per bale cotton, which affects the country's business competitiveness.
The US cotton has the finest quality and it is cheap also, he claimed.
Nearly 9.0 per cent of Bangladesh's total cotton demand is met by the US, and the share can rise up to 20 per cent once the fumigation check requirement is lifted, he added.
The US has long been requesting Bangladesh to withdraw the requirement of double fumigation of cotton, being carried out after the item reaches the ports here, said officials.
The latest move has been taken following a field-level study done by a high-powered six-member technical team of the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA) that visited the US states of Tennessee, Mississippi and Texas from 31 October to 04 November last year, they added.
The team suggested taking US cotton consignments at Bangladeshi ports following a phytosanitary certificate declaration from the USDA Animal and Plants Health Inspection Service (APHIS), stating each consignment is free from boll weevil and the baling process has maintained standard procedure.
Cotton imported from the US required an additional fumigation at the port of entry here as per the Plant Quarantine Rules 2018, according to which, any cotton imported to Bangladesh must carry an SPS certificate from the competent authorities of the exporting country.
In July 2019, the Bangladesh Tariff Commission recommended the government not to stop applying fumigation rules to avert any possible harmful impact of infamous insect boll weevil on local crops.
According to the MoA officials, boll weevil remains alive for 11 months and can fly up to five miles. It is very harmful for crops like cotton and okra.
But local cotton importers and spinners have frequently urged the authorities concerned to exclude the age-old provision of performing fumigation here in importing raw cotton from the US to save time and money.
Bangladesh is the only country that imposes the fumigation requirement on the US cotton at the port of entry, they have added.
Since Bangladesh is one of the biggest importers of cotton, the US cotton exporters are focusing on Bangladesh market. They have called for lifting the double fumigation rules on import of the commodity by Bangladesh.
Besides, different high-level meetings between Bangladesh and the US as well as trade-bodies also discussed lifting the fumigation requirement of the US cotton.
Bangladesh sources cotton mainly from Africa, India, CIS countries and the US.
The country annually spends over US$3.5-4.0 billion for importing around 8.0 million bales of cotton. It produces only 0.16 million bales of cotton yearly.
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