Certification barrier to exporting agricultural products to UK

Bangladesh's processed, fresh, and frozen agricultural products have a large demand in the United Kingdom (UK) and other European Union (EU) countries, but exporters have failed to capitalise on the opportunity due to issues with certification and standards.

Exporters have claimed that to export Bangladesh’s agro-food to the UK and EU countries, it is mandatory to ensure their standard and government certification. Besides, some foods need gamma radiation to remove salmonella, a common bacteria that affects the intestinal tract, but there are no available centres in the country for this process.

As a result, the country is being deprived of millions of dollars in earnings from the markets, which are now dominated by India and Pakistan.

Speakers made the observations at a stakeholder consultation programme, titled “Expanding and Diversifying Bangladesh's Exports to the UK Market”, organised by Research and Policy Integration for Development (RAPID) in collaboration with the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO).

RAPID Chairman Mohammad Abdur Razzaque presided over the discussion held on Wednesday at the Senate Bhaban of Dhaka University.

At the event, Alin Foods Trade Deputy General Manager Md Monirul Islam said that they could not export milk and egg-based processed food to the UK market due to the certification issue.

“UK authorities seek certification for every element and that is why they checked powder milk and egg certificates. But there is no organisation in Bangladesh that provides standard certificates to milk powder manufacturers,” he said.

Informing that Bangladesh’s spice has a good demand in the UK market, Monirul said, “But our spices are not up to mark to the country’s standard as the spices contain salmonella. To remove salmonella from the spice it needs gamma radiation, but there is no commercial radiation centre in Bangladesh. If we can export spice to the UK, our export earnings will double as soon.”

He also said that pesticide is one of the key barriers to exporting agro items to UK and EU markets. Due to the pesticide issue, Bangladesh’s agro items are banned there.

Md Monjurul Islam, advisor of the Bangladesh Fruits, Vegetables and Allied Products Exporter’s Association (BFVAPEA), said that due to standard certification issues, Bangladesh is being deprived of huge foreign currency earnings from the agro items.

“We exported only 1,820 tonnes of mango in the last season to the world, while the UK imported nearly 69,000 tonnes from the global market. The data shows that we have a lot of opportunities for the items,” he said adding, “We need a global standard certificate, which is acceptable to all countries.”

Pran Group Managing Director Eleash Mridha said, “To increase export to the UK market, we have to adopt British Retail Consortium (BRC) certificate. Farmers are using pesticides without knowledge, the agriculture department has to be aware of which and how much pesticide is usable. We have to ensure good agricultural practices.”

“The UK market has a huge demand for lentil-processed food, but the government imposed a ban on the export of the item. If the government allows exporting import-based lentil food, we will be able to earn a lot of foreign currency,” he said.

BFVAPEA former secretary Iqtadul Haque said, “Due to the cold storage, we failed to maintain the quality of frozen food. That is why buyers pay us less than they pay our competitors. Besides, the quality of food gets damaged due to the poor cargo handling in the airport, which is also a reason behind the low prices of our products in the international market.”