Days after Indian appeal to lift ban on Hilsa fish export, the ministry of commerce (MoC) moved to make way for the same immediately, sources said.
"We are examining the related statistics and info," MoC secretary Mahbub Ahmed told the FE Sunday.
When asked whether the ban would be lifted very soon, he said: "It's under process."
Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed on the same day told newsmen that formal export of Hilsa fish would be better than smuggling of the delicious fish.
The government earlier on July 31, 2012 imposed the ban on export of Hilsa fish to keep its prices at the affordable level in the local market.
Indian High Commissioner in Dhaka Pankaj Saran on Wednesday last called for lifting the ban on Hilsa fish export in a meeting with the new Fisheries and Livestock Minister Muhammed Sayedul Hoque.
Sources said a file concerning the matter was now on the table of the commerce secretary. It proposed the export price of Hilsa fish weighting below a kilogram (kg) at US$ 7.0, hilsa weighing below 1.5 kg at $9.0 and that weighing over 1.5 kg at $ 15.
The proposed prices are slightly up from the previous prices set by the government 15 years back. The export prices for Hilsa fish, set last time, were $ 6.0 for fishes weighing below a kg, $8.0 for fish weighing below 1.5 kg, and $12 for that weighing over 1.5 kg.
The Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCC) expressed its reservations about the export, unless the prices were set at $ 9.0, $ 12 and $ 20 respectively in line with its proposal.
"We strongly oppose the export of Hilsa fish at such lower prices," FBCCI vice president Helal Uddin told the FE.
He said local people would not get the delicious fish, if exported at lower prices. "After the ban on export the people were getting the fish at affordable prices," Mr Helal said.
Secretary of the Consumers Association of Bangladesh (CAB) Humayun Kabir Bhuiyan told the FE that the export ban helped make the Hilsa fishes available to the common people.
"When people are getting the protein-rich item at fair prices, I am confused why the government is going to make it costlier to them again," he said.
Experts said the ban on Hilsa export helped make the delicious fish available to the common people. They said the fish, which was available only to a section of rich and middle income people a year back, now entered the kitchens of fixed income people, thanks to the government's initiative.
They advocated continuation of the export ban which could help meet a significant amount of protein deficiency.
"It was a day dream for me to dare to gaze at a Hilsa fish a year ago. But now I can buy a Hilsa, no matter how small or big it is in size, as prices have gone down after the export ban," said one Shakhwat Atif, a direct sales executive of a private bank who draws a salary of Tk 9,000 a month.
Monzula Begum Ponni, wife of a vegetable vendor at Nowabganj Bazar, who lost everything to an all-devouring river, said: "Hilsa fish was the most 'easy to get' item for us while living in Shibchar under Madaripur district. But, when we moved to Dhaka, we realised how costly the fish was. I always stared at the fish but could never think of buying one because of the exorbitant prices."
She thanked the government for making the fish cheaper by imposing the ban.
Officials at Bangladesh Fisheries Department said Hilsa fish production increased to 391 thousand tonnes in the fiscal year (FY) 2012-13 from 346 thousand tonnes in the FY '12. They said the export ban had also helped reduce the catch of mother Hilsas which resulted in the increase in fish production.
Prof Dr Golam Maula of the Institute of Nutrition and Food Science at the University of Dhaka told the FE that nearly 82 per cent people of the country were suffering from serious protein deficiency because of their less meat and fish intake, as the prices were high but the people's purchasing power was low.
Hilsa fish is rich in amino acid, minerals and lipids, especially with many essential and poly-unsaturated fatty acids (PUFA).
He said: "It is found to be beneficial to human health because of the very high level of high density lipoprotein and low level of low density lipoprotein in PUFA that reduces the risk of heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and obesity."
"Hilsa alone contains a number of nutrients which can be available from various food items which makes it unique," he added.
Assistant Prof of the Dept of Bangla at the Khulna University Imran Kamal said: "Hilsa is considered the part and parcel of our tradition. Export of the fish will deprive people of the traditional taste."
"Apart from hilsa fish, we have plenty of items for export. An adequate supply of Hilsa in the mainstream market can also help reduce the import of foreign fish as the people's first choice is always Hilsa fish," he said.
An official at the Department of Agricultural Extension said before imposition of the ban, Hilsa fish was available to only 25 per cent of the people. It now reached 87 per cent, he added.
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