The government has allowed onion imports from nine more countries apart from India. The Ministry of Agriculture announced this information in a press release on Thursday.
The approval has been given for buying 21,580 tonnes of onions from China, Egypt, Pakistan, Qatar, Turkey, Myanmar, Thailand, the Netherlands and the UAE.
It was informed that the country can now import 2,400 tons of onions from China, 3,910 tons from Egypt, 11,820 tons from Pakistan, 1,100 tons from Qatar, 2,110 tons from Turkey, 200 tons from Myanmar, 33 tons from Thailand, 4 tons from Netherlands and 3 tons from the UAE.
The press release also informed that 3.79 lakh tonnes have arrived in the country against the permission to import 13.73 lakh tonnes of onions so far.
On August 19, India imposed a 40 percent tariff on onion exports. The country's authorities said that the decision to impose tariffs will be implemented immediately. The new duty imposed on Indian onion will remain in effect till December 31 this year.
After this announcement, the price of onion imported from the country has increased in the Bangladesh market. Traders have also increased the price of locally produced onions by getting the opportunity.
In response to the questions of some journalists at a programme on Wednesday, Agriculture Minister DrMdAbdurRazzak said, “We have allowed the import of 1.3 million tonnes of onions so far, only 3 lakh tonnes have arrived in the country.”
“This means that the country also has enough onions. In the field, it has been found that the farmers of the country still have a large amount of onion stock. So, even if India imposes a 40 percent tariff on onion exports, there will not be much impact on onion prices in the country. After the announcement of the tariff, the prices will go up a little, but it will come down after a few days,” he mentioned.
