A large quantity of garlic imported from abroad has been smuggled out to India through Bangladesh's porous border, draining hard-earned foreign currency and straining the country's falling reserve, an intelligence report has said.
High price of garlic in India where the spice is part of a daily menu for the nation's 1.20 billion people has spawned a flourishing new smuggling trade in Bangladesh's western border, the report by a key intelligence agency said.
The agency's probe has unearthed that this "unholy practice" has been going on for months in the bordering districts in connivance with the members of the Border Guards of Bangladesh (BGB) and Border Security Force (BSF) of India.
The illegal trade has become so "booming and problematic" that the agency suggested that the government impose "temporary ban" on garlic import and launch a crackdown on the spice hoarders based in the border districts.
"High garlic prices in Indian markets than those in Bangladesh are the main reason for the unethical trade," it said, adding one kilogram of garlic in India is now at least 50 taka costlier than Bangladesh.
On Wednesday garlic was sold between Tk35 and Tk 40 per kilogram in Dhaka, while imported garlic was traded between Tk 40 and Tk 50, a market report of state-run Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB) said.
Commerce ministry officials said due to bumper production of garlic in the country prices of the spice have gone down by about 50 per cent in recent months compared to the rates during the same period last year.
They rejected an outright import ban of garlic, saying any final decision must follow consultations with the spice growers, traders, experts, agriculture ministry and revenue board officials.
"Garlic import enjoys zero-duty facility at the customs. So we can consider either slapping a ban or imposing duties on the import," a senior official at the commerce ministry said.
The official, however, told the FE that the authorities would make a decision on the zero-tariff status of garlic import very soon in an effort to ease the pressure on the country's declining foreign exchange reserve.
"We will come to a decision shortly because the issue is related to our foreign exchange reserve, which the government can not afford to drain further to benefit smugglers," he added.
The country's foreign exchange reserve has dropped below $10 billion dollars early this month, covering only about three months' import payment, down from around four months' payment during the same time last year.
The International Monetary Fund has asked the government to help preserve the forex buffer in the wake of renewed turmoil in the global economy and a spike in the country's import cost against a modest export and remittance growth.
According to the report, border areas in Sathkhira Dinajpur, Chuadanga, Jhinaidah, Rajshahi, Chapainawabgonj, Jaypurhat, Kustia, Kurigram, Meherpur and Jessore are the main smuggling routes being used by the rogue traders.
Trucks, pick-ups, motorcycles and even bicycles are used for transporting garlic from Bangladesh to India, it said, adding at least 300 smugglers are involved in the unlawful business.
According to government data, garlic worth Tk 1.18 billion was imported during the first quarter of the current 2011-2012 fiscal year.
The intelligence report said the traders use mobile phones to conduct smuggling since the network of a number of Bangladeshi cellular phone operators also covers miles into the Indian border districts.
The agency has asked the authorities limit network access in the border areas in order to tackle smuggling.
Source: http://www.thefinancialexpress-bd.com/more.php?news_id=160334&date=2011-12-23
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