FBCCI urges govt to ensure supply of eggs, meat at lower prices

Businessmen on Saturday urged the government to provide necessary policy support so that eggs and meat could be provided at much lower prices to the consumers.

The entrepreneurs also demanded equal policy support to the livestock, poultry and fish farmers as like the agriculture sector enjoys.

The businessmen made these demands in the first meeting of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce & Industries (FBCCI) Standing Committee on Livestock, Poultry and Fisheries held at the FBCCI in the capital, said a press release.

The release said poultry, cattle farms, fish and shrimp farms have to pay electricity bills at commercial rates pushing up the production and operating costs.

With equal policy support like in the agricultural sector, it would be possible to meet the demand for protein at affordable prices.

While speaking at the meeting as the chief guest, FBCCI President Jashim Uddin said the government should provide utilities at a special rate to the livestock farms.

"To become a developed country by 2041, Bangladesh needs to earn $300 billion through export, which may appear to be tough to achieve solely from RMG.

"Therefore, fish, shrimp and meat should be included in the export basket. It comes down to the issue of government policy support," he added.

The FBCCI president said recently there has been instability in the egg market due to a few unscrupulous traders. He urged the government to identify these dishonest traders to protect the image of the community.

Jasim also advised the committee to work on logistics and supply chain to ensure fair prices for marginal farmers.

Earlier, FBCCI Vice-President and the committee’s Director-in-charge Salahuddin Alamgir said that like agriculture, five per cent loan obligation for banks should be kept for the livestock sector.

He also demanded to fix the dollar price at Tk 100 in case of imports for livestock. The vice president also recommended the introduction of insurance policies at low premiums to protect the farmers.

Chairman of the committee and executive member of Feed Industries Association Bangladesh, Md Moshiur Rahman called for strengthening the inter-ministerial coordination of government agencies.

"Both the Livestock department and BSTI monitor different categories of standards of farms. Farmers have to suffer due to lack of coordination and different sets of standards between the two organisations," he mentioned.

Moshiur also stressed on proper waste management to ensure compliance of the venture.

FBCCI Senior Vice President Mostofa Azad Chowdhury Babu, Directors Mohammad Anwar Sadat Sarker, MGR Nasir Majumder, Syed Moazzam Hossain, Bijoy Kumar Kejriwal, Abu Motaleb, Mohammad Iqbal Shahriar, Mohammed Bazlur Rahman, Tabarakul Tosaddek Hossain Khan Tito, Md Naser, Abu Hossain Bhuiyan (Ranu), Secretary General Mohammad Mafuzul Hoque, Co-Chairmen of the standing committee Imran Hussain, Md Mahmudul Alam and members were also present at the meeting.