Nearly after five years a Bangladeshi company has obtained permission for exporting frozen foods to Russia, raising hope of giving a boost to local frozen food export.
With the approval of the company - Gemini Sea Foods Ltd - the number of total companies allowed to export frozen foods to Russian market now stands at five.
Four Bangladeshi companies - Bagerhat Sea Food Ltd, Fresh Foods Ltd, Apex Food Ltd and ARK Sea Food Ltd - got approval from Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance of Russian Federation (Rosselkhoznadzor) in September 2009.
"Rosselkhoznadzor has given the approval to Gemini Sea Foods on May 5," Nittya Ranjan Biswas, principal scientific officer (PSO) of Fish Inspection and Quality Control (FIQC) Service under Department of Fisheries (DoF), told the FE.
He said the Russian authority uploaded the approval letter on its website, and Bangladeshi commercial counselor to the country Noor Md Mahbubul Haq sent it to the DoF director general on May 21.
Mr Biswas said: "We have sent recommendations for Gemini Sea Foods in March. Earlier, Russian buyer visited the company, talked to the country's authority concerned and informed that Gemini is eligible to export frozen foods there."
Gemini Sea Foods chief operation officer Mostaque Amin said: "We are working to get the permission of exporting frozen foods to Russia for the last two years and finally we have got it. We are happy, as a new window has opened for us. Both DoF and Rosselkhoznadzor supported us to get the permission."
He said: "We have Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP), Best Aquaculture Practice (BAP), British Retail Consortium (BRC), International Featured Standards (IFS), and Business Social Compliance Initiative (BSCI) certificates, which helped us to get the Russian approval."
Bangladesh Frozen Foods Exporters Association (BFFEA) president Md Amin Ullah said: "It is good new for us, as after a long gap a Bangladeshi company has got approval from the Russian authority for exporting frozen foods."
"Frozen foods worth Tk 3.0-3.5 billion are exported annually from Bangladesh to Russia, which is around seven per cent of the total export of the sector."
"New opportunities will help boost our export. But DoF should be very cautious before sending recommendation for any company to Rosselkhoznadzor, as Russia is strict regarding quality control issue."
"We urged the authorities concerned to pave the way for 78 Bangladeshi frozen food exporters also, who are enlisted to export products to the European Union," he added.
Bangladesh exported frozen foods worth $534.98 million during July to April period of this fiscal year, 2013-14, compared to $433.86 million in the same period of the previous fiscal, Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) data showed.
The government has set a target of exporting frozen foods worth $578.77 million this fiscal.
