Amid lockdown, Northeast sends fruits to Bangladesh ahead of Ramzan

Collected
Amid the ongoing nationwide lockdown to support the spread of coronavirus, Bangladesh received its first consignment of fruits and other horticulture products from the northeast before Ramzan that's scheduled to start out from Saturday.

On Wednesday and Thursday, 30.02 metric ton (MT) of grapes, 12.006MT of pomegranates, 6.004MT of oranges and 36.023MT of ginger were exported to the neighbouring country via the Sutarkandi land customs station (LCS) in Karimganj district.

This comes at the same time when all exports from the northeast through air cargo, generally to the Middle East, attended to a halt due to the coronavirus pandemic.

“We have been calling up exporters through the lockdown to determine difficulties faced by them and interventions required. Initially, they informed us that they might export only following the shutdown. However, when it had been further extended till May 3, the Karimganj exporters’ association approached us for seeking permission from the deputy commissioner (DC) of the district to permit movement for agri products,” Sunita Rai, assistant general manager of Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) told TOI on Friday. She added, “On acquiring the DC’s nod, exports have resumed to Bangladesh through Sutrakandi from April 22. However, all protective measures are taken to prevent the spread of the virus.”

APEDA officials said that the agency is urging the government to reopen export routes through Ragna Bazar LCS and Manu LCS in Tripura. Speaking on measures that APEDA is taking to greatly help out exporters in these times of crisis, Rai said, “If required, a particular freighter can be arranged by APEDA for the exporters. Besides this, the association is arranging permissions or requisite passes for the exporters, ensuring movement of the produces and holding meetings with airliners on regular basis.”

The export of over 84MT of fruits and ginger to Bangladesh comes as a ray of expect exporters in Karimganj. Karimganj Fresh Fruits, Spices Exporter and Importer Association’s chief adviser Jamiruddin said the resumption of trade was crucial as their stock was beginning to rot. “We are expecting our remaining stock of 220MT of fruits and other horticultural produces will be delivered to Bangladesh within weekly. 80% of our stock is still in good shape. We are facing a whole lot of delay in exporting the produces as sanitizing all vehicles before transport requires a lot of time,” he added.
Source: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com

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