The Ministry of Commerce has allowed a firm to export 1.5 million pieces of bovine hides.
Rajshahi-based Bio Ingredients secured permission to export the rawhide only to Turkey.
According to information provided by the ministry, on June 25, Bio Ingredients sought permission to export rawhide and the ministry on July 20 allowed it to export bovine hides.
According to the permit, the ministry allowed Bio Ingredients to export 15 lakh pieces of rawhide of HS code 410150 upon certain conditions.
Generally, a large piece of cowhide is 35-40 square feet, a medium-sized one is 25-30 square feet and a small-sized cowhide is 16-20 square feet. The company will export more than 5.62 crore square feet of raw cowhide if the 15 lakh pieces are of large size.
Export permitted on conditions
Six conditions have been laid down with respect to the export of salted rawhide following the Export Policy 2021-24.
This permit will only be applicable to export 15 lakh pieces of rawhide. The company will have to re-apply for subsequent exports.
Based on this permit, the firm will be allowed to export rawhides till June 30, 2024, and all documents related to export must be submitted to the commerce ministry after shipment.
Bio Ingredients can only export to the country where it is permitted to and the government can ban the exports whenever it deems fit.
The export of rawhide was banned since independence to protect the country’s tannery industry. The export of wet blue was stopped after 1989. Due to the non-sale of rawhides of the sacrificial animals of Eid-ul-Azha for the past few years and a large amount of skins being stocked in tanneries, the Ministry of Commerce has decided to export raw hides and wet blue on a case-to-case basis.
Last year, six companies applied to the commerce ministry for the export of seven crore square feet of rawhide. After this application, the ministry decided to allow the export of leather under certain conditions.
