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The Financial Express

Commodities from India: Team set up for reviewing quota

| Updated: January 21, 2023 10:22:57


Commodities from India: Team set up for reviewing quota

The government has formed a high-powered committee for preparing a revised annual import quota on some food items from India.

The fresh proposal will be sent to Delhi by February.

A senior official said the five-member panel would submit a report within the next 10 days to commerce ministry.

It will prepare the report in the context of the country's last 10-year detailed demand, production, import and supply data of the items.

The body will only revise rice, wheat and sugar out of seven commodities that were proposed at an Indo-Bangla commerce minister-level meeting on 22-23 December 2022.

An urgent meeting with officials and stakeholders concerned on Tuesday decided to review the quota proposal to facilitate import of the items from India.

Senior commerce secretary Tapan Kanti Ghosh chaired the meeting.

Dhaka earlier proposed quota for 4.5-million tonnes of wheat, 2.0-million tonnes of rice, 1.5-million tonnes of sugar, 0.7-million tonnes of onion, 0.125-million tonnes of ginger, 30,000 tonnes of lentil and 10,000 tonnes of garlic to keep its market stable.

Following the proposal, Delhi suggested that Dhaka review the proposed import quota on seven food items as it believes that the proposed quantity is too high.

To ensure Bangladesh's food security in the context of the possible food crisis caused by the Russia-Ukraine war and Covid-19, India was requested for annual import quota on commodities at the ministerial meeting.

"We've proposed as per the imported volume of wheat and sugar last fiscal. The volume was increased significantly," Mr Ghosh told reporters on the day.

"Today, we analysed how much of such items is required in the long run. We formed a small committee to collect data from Bangladesh Bank, food ministry and agriculture ministries."

The committee will prepare a revised proposal in line with the country's food security aspect, including the last 10 years' import trend, cited Mr Ghosh.

He said the proposed figures for rice, wheat and sugar out of seven commodities were overestimated.

The proposal was given against the backdrop of the Russia-Ukraine war. The proposed estimation for the rest-garlic, ginger, onion and lentil-is right.

"We have to revise the amount of rice, wheat and sugar. The volume of three items will be reduced substantially from the earlier proposal, said the secretary.

The government will send the revised figure to India after getting the report from the committee, he added.

He said the import trend from India increased on the aspect of food security and crisis period as importers can bring in goods within a short span of time.

Besides, prices of such items in India are lower.

India wants assurance that "We can import as much as we propose. But it's very difficult to give assurance… as traders will import from where they will get the items at lower prices," Mr Ghosh informed.

"We will give a tentative figure of the commodities and tell India that more or less 10 per cent of such items will be increased or decreased from the list."

The secretary mentioned that Delhi would not provide lentil as per Dhaka's request as it faces shortages of the pulses in times of crisis.

Currently, Delhi has offered export quota on essential goods to Nepal and Bhutan in the national budget of India last March.

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