Sliding pound, additional NTBs blamed
Sohel Parvez
Fresh vegetables exports dipped 25 percent in the July-November period of the current fiscal year against the same period last fiscal, thanks to a sliding pound sterling and additional non-tariff barriers (NTBs) imposed on some items to enter one of the key markets — United Kingdom.
“We are bearing the brunt of falling pound against taka,” said Mohammed Monsur, owner of Monsur General Trading Company, one of the leading fresh fruits and vegetables exporting firms.
“Some additional declaration requirements on phytosanitary certificates have also affected exports,” said Monsur, also general secretary of Bangladesh Fruits, Vegetables & Allied Products Exporters Association.
In the five-month period of the current fiscal, vegetables exports slipped by 25.33 percent to $21.78 million from $29.17 million a year ago.
Vegetables export, which has been on the upteak since its last fall in fiscal year 2005-06, began to face a downbeat trend this fiscal year after registering around 70 percent growth in fiscal year 2007-08.
“Once we got over Tk 135 for each pound, which now values below Tk 100. It’s worrying,” said the general secretary of the lobby group for vegetables exporters who resumed export last month after suspending for around three weeks due to a decline in earnings on the back of weak pound.
The British pound, which was traded over Tk 135 each a year ago, started weakening since early August last year as UK economy was troubled by global financial rout.
The pound stood over Tk 95 yesterday, down from Tk 106 on the same day in November 2008.
Besides a weakening pound, destruction of some shipments by British authorities for failure to comply with NTBs like additional declaration requirements on phytosanitary certificates for some vegetables such as lime, aubergine and cucumber also worsened exports.
The destruction of air-cargo shipments began mid-last year due to exporters’ inability to show official certification to prove that there was no canker (one kind of bacterial disease) in various types of citrus like lime, one of the favourite vegetables of non-resident Bangladeshis in the UK.
Exporters also need to place certification declaring that the vegetables and fruits are treated with chemicals such as sodium orthophenylphenate, meaning these are germs-free.
But due to unavailability of the chemical in Bangladesh, quarantine certificate provider — Directorate of Plant Protection — is now unable to treat exportable vegetables with the chemical and issue certificates.
However Md Abu Yousuf Miah, a quarantine pathologist, said the government has taken initiative to import the chemical and help continue exports with compliance.
“Our growers and exporters should be careful in producing germ-free vegetables and fruits for exporting those to developed countries meeting compliance issues,” he said.
But the fear of destruction of the vegetables’ shipments, especially of lime, by the UK authorities looms large among the exporters.
“These vegetables give us more profit and their demand is high among Bangladeshi community in the UK,” said Paritosh Chandra Das Manik, owner of Dip International that exports to the UK.
Bangladesh’s fresh fruits and vegetables are exported mainly to the UK and the Middle Eastern countries with aubergine, lime, bottle guard, bitter guard, bean and cucumber being the main items.
Manik said Kenya, India and Malaysia are the main competitors of Bangladesh.
“Pound’s depreciation has also affected our competitors. But the intensity of the impact on us is much greater than that on our competitors,” he said.
Courtesy: thedailystar.net
