The move aims to stabilise the market after floods caused egg prices to rise
Published : 08 Oct 2024, 07:09 PM
The Bangladesh Trade and Tariff Commission has asked the National Board of Revenue, or NBR, to temporarily waive the import duty on eggs to stabilise the market.
In a letter sent to the NBR chairman on Tuesday, the commission highlighted that onions, potatoes, and eggs were included as essential items in a report submitted to the NBR on Aug 29 regarding duty exemptions.
On Sept 4, the NBR waived duties on the import of potatoes and onions, which helped stabilise the prices of these two commodities.
However, the letter added that no measures have been taken regarding eggs based on the commission’s recommendations.
Currently, consumers in Dhaka are paying up to Tk 170 for a dozen eggs.
According to the state-owned Trading Corporation of Bangladesh, or TCB, the local price of eggs has increased by 15 percent in the last month and by 20.41 percent over the past year.
The commission said the recent floods in different districts have harmed the poultry industry, and the abnormal rise in the prices of supplementary food items has put pressure on the egg supply chain.
It believes that temporarily waiving import duties would have minimal negative impact on the domestic poultry industry.
Currently, there is a total import duty of 33 percent on eggs, and the commission said maintaining this duty would not significantly affect the pricing of imported eggs in the local market.
Therefore, removing the duty for a short period could provide some relief for the general public.
To stabilise local market prices, the commerce ministry granted permission to seven companies to import a total of 45 million eggs on Tuesday.
These companies have been allowed to import varying amounts of eggs by Dec 31.
Earlier, after a spike in egg prices in mid-2023, the ministry attempted to control prices by setting a maximum retail price of Tk 12 per egg, which proved ineffective. Subsequently, 15 companies were allowed to import 150 million eggs.
After a shipment of 62,000 eggs arrived from India in the first week of November, wholesale prices dropped by Tk 0.80 per egg.
Prices continued to decline, reaching around Tk 120 per dozen at one point, but have now surged back to Tk 170.
Although over 231,000 eggs arrived through the Benapole port on Sept 8, this had no impact on market prices.
Following this, the Department of Agricultural Marketing set the retail price of each egg at Tk 11.87, meaning consumers should expect to pay around Tk 142.44 for a dozen, but current market conditions suggest otherwise.