A gradual rise in the import of frozen or processed buffalo meat is giving serious cause for concern in the local cattle industry.
Dairy industry insiders claim imported frozen buffalo meat is hurting local businesses and also threatening public health.
The meat is being sold at restaurants as beef, simply deceiving consumers, according to a release of the Bangladesh Dairy Farmers Association.
Citing Chattogram customs, it said 2,212 tonnes of buffalo meat, lung and livers have been imported, mainly from India, in the past five months through Chattogram port.
Some 400 tonnes to 600 tonnes of buffalo meat every month were imported from April to August.
Md Shah Imran, general secretary of the association, said frozen buffalo meat is imported at dumped rates.
The local price of the product is Tk 380 a kg against its import cost at below Tk 250 a kg, he added.
Mr Imran said, "Buffalo meat is being sold as 'beef'-that's cheating." An estimated 110 million people are directly involved in 2.5 million farms for cattle rearing and dairy.If import gradually rises, Mr Imran said, local farms will shrink and unemployment will rise in the country.
"So, the decision to import meat will be suicidal for the country's dairy sector in the coming days." The businessman expressed concerns that the frozen imported meat is being re-frozen by restaurants, which is very unhealthy.
Palli Karma-Sahayak Foundation general manager and animal resources expert Dr Sharif Ahmed Chowdhury said Bangladesh has no modern laboratory to test imported meat to find it disinfected. "The consumers are in danger for lack of proper testing," he told the FE.
Mr Ahmed said if import of frozen meat continues, more than 0.4 million modern farms will face closure.
Meanwhile, fisheries and livestock ministry has recently requested commerce ministry not to allow any imports of frozen meat or processed meat.
It has been asked to amend the import order for the sake of the local industry which is now self-sufficient in cattle, said sources.
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