The government has given the green light for the importation of a staggering 40 million eggs to stabilise the market.
Four companies – Mim Enterprise, Tiger Trading, Prime Energy, and Arnab Trading – got permission to import the eggs with each entity being permitted to import up to 10 million eggs following four conditions, said Commerce Secretary Tapan Kanti Ghosh on Monday.
The government has imposed four conditions for importing eggs. Firstly, eggs must be imported from countries free of avian influenza or bird flu. Secondly, each consignment of imported eggs must be submitted with a certificate of free from avian influenza or bird flu virus and harmful bacteria issued by the government of the exporting country or authorised authority.
Thirdly, prohibited goods cannot be imported and the final one was the government regulations have to be complied with two conditions mentioned in the letter to the importing company.
The decision comes amid the skyrocketing price of the essentials in the local market for the last one and a half months.
Egg price reached a record Tk 15 per piece in mid-August which later reduced to Tk 13-13.25.
On September 14, the ministry fixed the maximum price of Tk 12 per piece. However, the price remained at Tk 12.5-13.2 a piece in the market until Monday morning, according to city groceries.
“No specific timeline is given for importing the eggs but the companies have been asked to import eggs as soon as possible. The LC (later of credit) has to be opened. So, it may take some time,” Tapan added.
When asked from which country the eggs will be imported, the secretary said, “It has not been specified. So, importers will decide from which country they will import eggs but the price of imported eggs has been fixed at Tk 12 per piece. ”
According to the Bangladesh Egg Producers Association, the country requires between 35 and 40 million eggs per day to meet demand. And the majority of the eggs are sourced from domestic producers.
