BD organic goods set to enter EU market in July

Bangladeshi organic products are expected to enter the mainstream European market from July next, the first of its kind in the western bazaar, insiders said.
The Bangladesh Organic Products Manufacturers Association (BOPMA), with the help of the ministry of commerce, met European Commission (EC) representatives at Brussels last month in this connection.
"The EC officials gave us assurance to import organic products from Bangladesh", said vice president of BOPMA Md Mizanur Rahman.
He said the EC officials have shown interest to source organic vegetables both normal and frozen, halal meat and sea fish.
Mr Rahman, who was also with the delegation in Brussels, Belgium, said the association contacted EC officials several times for sourcing Bangladeshi products.
Commercial counsellor of the Bangladesh Embassy to the European Union Tapan Kanti Ghosh talked to the EC officials many times in this connection and finally succeeded to arrange meetings with them, he said.
The association, led by its president Muhammed Abdus Salam, met Ms Bettina Brandtner, Second National Expert of the DG-Agriculture of the EC and Mr Charles Pat Dunkley, another top official from the same organisation, he said.
The association arranged a power point presentation on the organic agriculture and products in Bangladesh at the first meeting held on April 16 last, he said.
Organic products expert and adviser to the BOPMA Mohammad Abdullah told the FE that the EC high officials were very much positive about the production and processing lines in Bangladesh.
"They also reassured us to support our efforts to develop standard and certification agencies," he said.
He said the association also met officials of 'Safe Trade bvba', a Brussels-based trading agency.
Chief executive officer of the Safe Trade Mr Afshin Sajedy has shown his eagerness to buy Bangladeshi organic products, he said.
"The company is likely to be the first importer of Bangladeshi organic products in EU," he said.
When contacted, Mr Salam, president of the association, told the FE that if everything remains fine, they expect to send the first consignment in July.
He said Bangladeshi exporters ship nearly US$ 600 million of agro products annually to EU, Middle-East, US and elsewhere in the world.
He said only 1 to 2 per cent of the produce is organic which mainly goes to Middle-East while some products are exported through informal channels to the ethnic market of England.
He said: "If we can maintain quality of our products, the export of organic agro produce will surpass $ 200 million in next few years from $10-12 million now."
Organic farming expert and also scientist at the state-run Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI) Dr Md Nazim Uddin said the global market for organic products reached $ 72 billion.
He said the US is the leading market with $ 32 billion, followed by Germany with $10 billion and France with $ 5.75 billion.
The highest per capita spending for organic products is in Switzerland and Denmark, he said.
He said Bangladesh had a heritage of organic farming as 90 per cent of the farmers were familiar with the process until 1990s.
He said: "We have a good interaction with the leading organic product using countries in terms of export and import. If we can grab the minimum portion of their market, our exports will surpass a billion dollar."
"But the local exporters will have to maintain strict rules and regulations in sourcing organic products. And a good product will be the best branding," he added.
    tonmoy.wardad@gmail.com