China is likely to allow in its market half a dozen more agricultural products from Bangladesh as they have recently initiated the process in this regard, officials said.
The products are: potato, mango, jackfruit, guava, soybean meal and aromatic rice.
At present, Bangladesh exports agriculture products like vegetable, fruit, nut food preparations, cereal, flour, starch, milk preparations and products, edible fruits, nuts, peel of citrus fruit, melons etc.
In July last year, the embassy of Bangladesh in Beijing had requested the department of animal and plant quarantine of General Administration of Customs of China (GACC) to give permission for exporting the items.
In response, the GACC has sought detailed information about the items in line with the access procedures for inspection and quarantine of the agricultural products, said the officials.
It also added a questionnaire of information required for pest risk analysis before providing permission to any agricultural item import in China.
Besides, the GACC requested marking the sequence of priority of the six agricultural items so that it can deduct risk analysis based on Bangladesh's priority to the products.
The embassy officials in a recent letter to the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) sought feedback on the GACC's questionnaire along with the sequence of priority to the agricultural items "to expand our exports of agricultural products in China".
China has already granted duty-free access facilities for the Bangladeshi products which is nearly 98 per cent of China's total tariff line.
Trade officials thought that the facilities are expected to help Bangladesh boost its exports to China if exporters can meet the standard requirements and compete with the Chinese products.
Contacted, DAE Director General Benojir Alam told the FE that Bangladesh's agricultural products have huge export potentials in China and other major destinations.
"We export agricultural products by properly checking through our accredited lab," he said.
If China allows entry of the items from Bangladesh, "we will be able to maintain the required standard", he said.
Mr Alam said the capacity of the Central Packaging House at Shyampur is being expanded and modernised under an ongoing project.
He added that the government has allocated two acres of land in Purbachal, Narayanganj where a laboratory and a packaging house will be set up with the help of Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).
The new lab will substantially enhance the testing and packaging capacity to facilitate export of agriculture commodities, noted Mr Alam.
Bangladesh produces around 10 million tonnes of potato annually, of which 2.0 million tonnes remain surplus after meeting the local demand. In fiscal year 2020-21, the country exported 64,773 tonnes of potato to countries like Malaysia, Sri Lanka, and Singapore.
Data showed that by exporting agricultural products, Bangladesh now earns around $1.0 billion annually. Vegetables are being exported to nearly 50 countries which include the European Union, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, UAE, Hong Kong, and Singapore.
