A whole of 3,320 tonnes of rice has been imported from India by Benapole land port in 25 days following the withdrawal of customs responsibility.
“Eight importing firms alongside with Mahbubul Alam Meals Products, Ark Trading, and Sardar Enterprise, imported the rice,” Abu Taher, earnings officer of the Benapole Checkpost Cargo Branch, suggested The Alternate Typical this day (14 December).
Import of the essential staple resumed on 17 november after a two-one year hiatus, following the authorities’s resolution to take the customs responsibility.
The last consignment, consisting of 105 tonnes, arrived on Friday evening, ending the import of 3,320 tonnes in 97 vehicles by 12 December.
Constant with a letter signed by Lutfar Rahman, joint secretary of the Ministry of Meals, 92 importing companies were authorised to import rice. The authorities allowed the import of 273,000 tonnes of parboiled rice and 119,000 tonnes of non-parboiled rice.
The authorities role a 25-day closing date for importing and marketing the rice which expired last Thursday.
Shyamal Kumar Nath, deputy assistant officer of the Plant Quarantine Centre at Benapole Land Port, acknowledged the Indian authorities had imposed a ban on the export of every parboiled and non-parboiled rice starting 20 July 2023.
Sooner than that, rice imports from India had been suspended since November 2022, when a 62% customs responsibility used to be levied on rice to discourage imports.
