Govt forms 5-member panel to increase bacteria-free agri produce exports to EU

The government has formed a five-member inter-ministerial committee to ensure production of vegetables, betel leaves and fruits free from bacteria aiming to increase their export to the European Union (EU) markets.  
Hedayetullah Al Mamoon, ndc, senior secretary of the ministry of commerce (MoC) is the head of the committee. Secretaries of the ministries of agriculture, industries, fisheries, livestock and a representative of the National Board of Revenue (NBR) are the members of the committee.
The decision was taken Monday at an inter-ministerial meeting for formulating a work plan for removing the existing barriers in the field of exporting country's vegetables, betel leaves and fruits to the European Markets. Matia Chowdhury, agriculture minister, presided over the meeting and Tofail Ahmed, commerce minister attended it.
Representatives of the MoC, fisheries and livestock, agriculture, export promotion bureau (EPB), Bangladesh High Commissioner to the United Kingdom (UK), accreditation board, Bangladesh Foreign Trade Institute (BFTI) and Hortex Foundation, among others, were present in the meeting.
The meeting discussed various issues relating to the export of country's fresh vegetables, betel leaves, fruits and potato to the European Union (EU) free from bacteria and issuing certificates. Besides, a decision was also taken to expedite exports of those items to EU markets.
"The newly-formed committee will sit as early as possible to prepare the necessary work plan in this connection," Saidur Rahman Selim, Deputy Secretary of MoC told the FE Monday.
Bangladesh earns more or less US$ 8.0 million per year by exporting betel leaves to the UK, according to the MoC.
The Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) of the UK detected Salmonella Bacterium in Bangladesh's betel leaf. Afterwards, the agency requested the UK government to ban import of betel leaf from Bangladesh. Following this development, the MoC issued a public notification saying it slapped a ban on export of the betel leaf to the European countries.
Detection of Salmonella Bacterium in betel leaves in the UK prompted the EU to suspend imports from Bangladesh until July 31, 2014 temporarily. The suspension period has been increased till June 30, 2015.
Bangladesh's export earning from fresh fruits and vegetables stood at US$182 million in the last fiscal.
Over the first six months of the current fiscal, the country earned about US$75 million from the export of fresh fruits and vegetables.
The value of betel leaf export to the European and Middle Eastern countries stood at over US$ 31 million in 2012, according to government figures.

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