3,320 tons rice imported from India in 25 days

Following the withdrawal of customs duty, 3,320 metric tons of rice have been imported from India through Benapole land port in Jashore in 25 days.

Rice imports resumed on November 17 after a two-year break, following the government’s decision to lift the customs duty.

The last consignment, consisting of 105 metric tons, arrived, in the port at around 10PM on Thursday (December 12), completing the import of 3,320 tonnes in 97 trucks.

Abu Taher, revenue officer of the Benapole Checkpost Cargo Branch, on Saturday said eight importing companies, including Mahbubul Alam Food Products, Ark Trading, and Sardar Enterprise, imported the rice.

A letter signed by Lutfar Rahman, joint secretary of the Ministry of Food, granted permission to the 92 importing agencies to import of 2,73,000 metric tons of parboiled rice and 1,19,000 metric tons of non-parboiled rice.

Meanwhile, many importers could not bring in the rice within this short timeframe, as the government had set a strict 25-day deadline, which ended December 12.

Meanwhile, Shyamal Kumar Nath, deputy assistant officer of the Plant Quarantine Centre at Benapole Land Port, said that the Indian government had imposed a ban on the export of both parboiled and non-parboiled rice starting July 20, 2023.

Before that, rice imports through this port had been halted since November 2022 as 62 per cent customs duty was imposed to discourage rice imports.