Some unscrupulous traders export contaminated and substandard fruits and vegetables which created a negative impact on the exports from Bangladesh, sources told the Daily Observer.
The said that this due to practice, Bangladesh lost its hold on the global market.
After obtaining phyto sanitary certificate, unscrupulous traders export contaminated, unacceptable and substandard fruits and vegetables mixed with fresh fruits and vegetables of good quality. Defective products are identified after the customer receives the product - which cannot be sold. The buyer is financially harmed. That's why they are showing reluctance to buy fresh fruits and vegetables of Bangladesh origin.
As a result, Bangladesh is losing markets in developed countries. Also, unscrupulous exporters receive government's incentives using dubious means. This causes financial losses to the government as well as the country. On the other hand, the domestic market of fresh fruits and vegetables is shrinking.
The contract with the foreign buyer is signed at the beginning of the year. Product price is determined at the time of contract signing. In the middle of the year, the price of the product increases due to the increase in air fares. But the buyer is not willing to pay the increased price.
In this situation, it is not possible to collect the money that is available from the foreign buyer.
As a result, on the one hand, the exporter suffers financially as the money the buyers owe cannot be realised. On the other hand, the buyer does not buy the product. As a result, the market of Bangladeshi fresh fruits and vegetables is shrinking globally including in Europe.
To export fresh fruits and vegetables to 23 European countries including Britain and other countries of the world including the US, after purchasing the products from farmers, they have to be transported to airports including Shahjalal International Airport. These products have to be transported for a long time to bring them to these airports. In the process, fresh fruits and vegetables get spoiled in hot and humid weather due to absence of cooling system during transportation.
Due to scarcity of space in airplanes, cargo transportation becomes a problem. It is not possible to transport as many products as you want, whenever you want. A fixed quantity of fresh fruits and vegetables needs to be transported. Due to lack of space, fresh fruits and vegetables are wasted as the products cannot be exported on time.
In this context, Bangladesh Fruits Vegetables and Allied Products Exporters Association (BFVAPEA) leader Mohammad Monsur, an exporter of fresh fruits and vegetables, told The Daily Observer that exporting fresh fruits and vegetables was facing various challenges. He said that there is no cooling system during transportation and the products get spoiled due to lack of cooling system during transportation also inside the airport.
Replying to a question, he said, facing so many problems, no one will be interested in exporting fresh fruits and vegetables. Obviously, export of fruits and vegetables will decrease in future. He said that export of fresh fruits and vegetables will decrease in future due to non-availability of flights, export of substandard products by unscrupulous traders that made overseas buyers reluctant to buy products of the country.
