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The Ministry of Textiles and Jute has issued a notification asking all government bodies to verify licenses before purchasing jute sacks from any vendor.
The notification was sent to the Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Food, Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief, the Ministry of Industrires, in this regard.
According to the Jute Act 2017, traders must acquire a license from the Directorate of Jute before selling jute products.
The ministry also said that if the government stakeholders purchase jute goods from authorized traders, it will increase revenue at the government exchequer.
“This has been our long standing demand for protecting licenced traders from a wicked syndicate in the jute sector. We asked the government to solve this issue and we are thankful that the authorities have accepted our logical demand,” said Esrat Jahan, chief executive officer of Tulika and director of the Bangladesh Jute Goods Exporters Association (BJGEA), while talking to The Business Post in this regard.
According to the jute and jute goods millers, a vested quarter or a group of seasonal traders have been engaged in supplying most of the jute goods to government bodies by influencing officials.
But according to the Jute Act 2017, the ministry and its associate organization must purchase jute goods from the traders with a license issued by Directorate of Jute. But the law is rarely followed, jute millers claimed.
“That’s why we urged the government to issue a notification to protect legal traders,” Syed Ali Alfe Sany Akash, director of Monami Jute Mill, said.
“But the government should monitor and enforce the notification strictly,” he added.
The traders must have a membership of BJGEA or Bangladesh Jute Mills Association before applying for jute goods trading license. At the same time, the trader has to pay Tk25,000 for renewing their license annually.
