Abdur Razzak Sohel
In a bid to protect women and girl’s reproductive health, the government has proposed a VAT exemption for production of sanitary napkin and its’ raw materials at the local manufacturing stage.
It also expanded the VAT exemption on import of certain raw materials for producing the sanitary pads.
Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal made the proposal while placing the proposed budget of Tk 6,03,681 crore for FY22 in the parliament on Thursday.
“I propose a VAT exemption at local manufacturing stage on the production of sanitary napkin to ensure health protection of women,” said Kamal in his budget speech.
“A two-year extension of existing VAT exemption has also been proposed on importation of certain raw materials used for the production of sanitary napkin and diaper,” the minister added.
The decision to exempt the supplementary duty was taken in an effort to give local manufacturers opportunity to expand and meet the demands of local consumption at an affordable price; hence, meet the health targets of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
