FBCCI seeks policy support to make eggs, meat cheaper

The Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) called upon the government on Saturday to provide policy support to help consumers get eggs and meat at much lower prices.
The apex trade body made the call during the first meeting of the FBCCI Standing Committee on Livestock, Poultry and Fisheries at its Motijheel office in the capital.
The members of the committee urged the government to provide the same policy support to the livestock, poultry and fish farmers as the agriculture sector enjoys.
They said poultry, cattle farms, fish and shrimp farms were paying electricity bills at commercial rates that raised the production and operating costs.
They said with the same policy support as the agricultural sector enjoyed, it would be possible for the poultry sector to meet the need of protein at affordable prices.
Speaking as the chief guest FBCCI President Md Jashim Uddin said the government should provide utilities at a special rate to the livestock farms.
"To become a developed country by 2041, Bangladesh needs to export $300 billion, which may be tough to achieve solely from RMG. Therefore, fish, shrimp and meat should be included in the export basket. Here, it comes to government policy support", he said.
He said that recently there had been instability in the egg market due to a few unscrupulous traders.
He called upon the government to identify these dishonest traders to protect the image of the community.
He advised the committee to work on logistics and supply chain to ensure fair prices for marginal farmers.
Director-in-charge of the committee and Vice-President of FBCCI Salahuddin Alamgir said that, like agriculture, a 5.0 per cent loan obligation for banks should be kept for the livestock sector.
He also suggested fixing the dollar price at 100 taka in the case of imports for livestock.
He also recommended introduction of insurance policies at low premiums to protect the farmers.
Chairman of the committee and Executive Member of Feed Industries Association Bangladesh Md Moshiur Rahman called for strengthening the coordination of government agencies.
"Both the Livestock Department and BSTI monitor different categories of standards of farms. Farmers have to suffer due to lack of coordination and different sets of standards of the two organisations," he mentioned.
He stressed on proper waste management to ensure the compliance of the venture. Senior Vice President of FBCCI Mostofa Azad Chowdhury Babu, Directors Mohammad Anwar Sadat Sarker, M.G.R. Nasir Majumder, Syed Moazzam Hossain, Bijoy Kumar Kejriwal, Abu Motaleb, Mohammad Iqbal Shahriar, Moham-med Bazlur Rahman, Tabarakul Tosaddek Hossain Khan Tito, Md Naser, Abu Hossain Bhuiyan (Ranu), Secretary General Mohammad Ma-fuzul Hoque, Co-Chairmen of the Standing Committee Imran Hussain and Md Mahmudul Alam, and other members were also present at the meeting.
talhabinhabib@yahoo.com