Food Minister Qamrul Islam has said Bangladesh will not import wheat from Brazil again, following the bad experience over the standard of wheat from the country, reports bdnews24.com.
Amidst widespread criticism over the import of wheat from Brazil, the minister told the Jatiya Sangsad (JS) on Saturday: "We'll not bring this again. This (wheat) even looks bad."
Reacting to newspaper reports that the wheat imported from Brazil is rotten, Minister Islam, however, said that was not proved during tests.
"We are testing the wheat again because we have the courage. We'll destroy the wheat if necessary after the tests," he said.
In his statement given under Rule 300, which does not allow supplementary question to be asked, Qamrul Islam said he would not speak about the matter again before getting the final report of the tests.
He blamed the crisis in Ukraine for the decision to import wheat from Brazil.
The government signed an agreement with Ukraine in its last tenure to import 500,000 tonnes wheat, he said, and added that he took steps to import 250,000 tonnes from Ukraine again when he took the charge of the ministry.
"Ukraine's relation with Russia started to worsen after we had finalised the price and standard in several meetings. Ukraine suddenly stopped communication then," he said.
Bangladesh called for a global tender to procure wheat when the reserve decreased to 68,000 tonnes abruptly.
According to the minister, two Brazilian firms bid to supplying the wheat.
"We didn't have the experience of buying such wheat. But the samples they provided were found worth consumption during tests by Science Lab and another organisation," he said.
"Meanwhile," he added, "Some people took very bad samples of the wheat to the prime minister. She naturally expressed her anger."
Qamrul Islam said he and the food secretary spoke to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina about the matter.
"In the meantime, the wheat had reached the district warehouses. Of them, 30,000 to 40,000 tonnes have been distributed.
"We are not giving the wheat to people forcefully," he added.
He also said his ministry asked the executive magistrates in the districts to send samples of that wheat and they have all done it.
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