Bangladesh allows onion imports from China, Egypt and 7 other countries

The government has approved a proposal to bring in 21,580 tonnes of onions from nine countries apart from India.

The Ministry of Agriculture made the move on Thursday following India's decision to enforce duty on the export of the product. 

Bangladesh will now import 2,400 tonnes of onions from China, 3,910 tonnes from Egypt, 11,820 tonnes from Pakistan and 1,100 tonnes from Qatar. 

Another 2,110 tonnes will be brought in from Turkey, 200 tonnes from Myanmar, 33 tonnes from Thailand, 4 tonnes from the Netherlands and 3 tonnes from the United Arab Emirates. 

The ministry said the government authorised the import of 1.37 million tonnes of onions so far, of which 379,000 tonnes arrived until Thursday. 

According to the government, Bangladesh requires 3 million tonnes of onions a year, which is lower than how much is produced. But one-third of the produce goes bad, so imports, mostly from India, are necessary to fill the deficit.

During a crisis in the 2019-20 financial year, the price of each kg of onions rose to as high as Tk 200. 

The importers then brought in the staple from Myanmar, Turkey, China and Egypt to stabilise the market. 

As prices soared after India imposed a 40 percent duty on onion exports recently, Agriculture Minister Abdur Razzaque said Bangladesh would look to import from other countries. 

India imposed the VAT to curb the rising prices of the produce in the country and it will remain in force until Dec 31.