The senior secretary to the Commerce Ministry Tapan Kanti Ghosh said four companies have been allowed to import a total of 4 crore eggs. The government has given this permission keeping the control of eggs price. The government will regularly monitor the market to check the price of eggs and if no improvement is seen then approval will be given to import more eggs.
The secretary said this to reporters at his office of the Ministry of Commerce on Monday.
He said, "We are constantly monitoring the market. We want to give preference to domestically produced eggs. However, it is not logical to take this opportunity to charge an extra price for eggs."
The Ministry has given approval to four companies to import eggs from India. The companies are M/s Meem Enterprises, Prime Energy Importers and Suppliers, Tiger Trading and Arnab Trading Limited.
The secretary said that the Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock has fixed the price of eggs at the consumer level at Tk 12 last month. But the retailers are not selling eggs at this price. Therefore, the Ministry of Commerce has allowed four companies to import four crore eggs. One of these companies said it will import from India. The rest will import from convenient sources.
In response to the question whether there are any conditions for the import of eggs, he said that there are no conditions for the import. However, in case of sale, the government has to sell at the fixed price. However, eggs must be imported from bird flu-free countries. Also, the imported eggs must be certified as free from bird flu virus or harmful bacteria.
In response to the question whether the import of eggs will have any effect on the local production market, he said that since our country has a daily demand of four crore eggs, the import of these eggs will not have any effect on the market of domestic production. We want to give preference to domestically produced eggs. But if they use this opportunity to syndicate and increase the price, then there will be no alternative to import to control the market.
In response to the question that many other products are not being sold at the fixed price even after fixing the price, he said that the price of potato and onion was fixed last Thursday. Experts from the respective sectors, cold storage owners and retail level traders and their leaders were present for this determination.
He said, "We think it is a reasonable price. In this case, all types of dividends in the product supply chain are included.
All district administrators and upazila level executive officers have been instructed to monitor whether they are selling at the fixed price or not. Also Consumer Rights Campaign will be conducted with Agriculture Marketing and Upazila Agriculture and Fisheries Officers. A virtual meeting will also be held with the DCs in a day or two to strengthen monitoring."
Earlier, on August 13, Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi said the government will allow the import of eggs after consultation with the Fisheries and Livestock Ministry if the price of eggs does not come down.
As price of eggs soars abnormally the members of Directorate of National Consumer Rights Protection are conducting drives in different wholesale markets in the city and realising fines.
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.
