Home ›› 29 May 2023 ›› Governance
The Parliamentary Standing Committee on the Ministry of Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has recommended taking measures to address the disparity in tariff on locally grown rubber and the imported ones.
The committee also recommended that the ministry to take appropriate measures to procure advanced species rubber seedlings from Malaysia, Sri Lanka, or India for the development of the rubber industry, said a parliament secretariat release.
There is a 15 per cent Value Added Tax (VAT) on locally produced rubber while importers of synthetic and natural rubber need to pay only five per cent import tax. Despite an increase in cultivation, production and export of rubber in Bangladesh, the tariff disparity inspires the country’s rubber-based industry to import the primary industrial input.
The committee suggested the ministry to initiate coordination meetings between the Bangladesh Rubber Board and the Bangladesh Forestry Development Corporation to address various issues
The recommendations came at the 37th meeting of the committee held at the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban on Sunday with its chairman Saber Hossain Chowdhury in the chair.
Committee members Nazim Uddin Ahmed, Rezaul Karim Bablu, Khodeja Nasreen Akhter Hossain, and Environment, Forest and Climate Change Minister Md Shahab Uddin attended the meeting.
The committee recommended the ministry to leas out forest lands avoiding elephant trails.
It also asked the ministry to take effective measures to evacuate illegal structures built on St Martin’s island for conservation of environment and ecology.
