NBR to extend duty exemption period on sugar import

Commerce Secretary Tapan Kanti Ghosh has said that a letter will be sent to the National Board of Revenue (NBR) to extend the period of duty exemption on sugar import due to the increase in the price of sugar and the dollar in the international market.

Responding to a query, the commerce secretary told reporters after a workshop held at the ministry office in Dhaka on Wednesday noon.

“The tariff facilities on sugar import still are in force and it will end on May 31. We will again send a letter to the NBR to further extend the period as the sugar price increases in the international market,” he said.

The importation of sugar has declined due to the increase in the price of unrefined sugar and the in the international market, said the government official.

A few days ago, Bangladesh Sugar Refiners’ Association wrote to the commerce ministry and requested it to adjust the sugar price and later Bangladesh Trade and Tariff Commission (BTTC) was asked to take a decision in this regard, he said.

And then the unpackaged sugar price has been fixed at Tk 120 per kilogram and packaged sugar at Tk 125 per kilogram following the recommendation of the BTTC, he said.

Apart from this, the commerce ministry wrote to the Bangladesh Sugar Refiners’ Association asking them to sell the sugar at the government's fixed rate but they did not share any update with the ministry concerned in this regard, said the commerce secretary.

The ministry calls upon the NBR to reduce the duty rate whenever the prices of daily essential commodities go beyond the purchasing capacity of the common people,  

The senior secretary said, whenever the price of an essential commodity is not at a bearable level, we request the NBR to reduce the duty rate, Ghosh said.

He said the tariff determination is actually the function of the NBR and it sometimes reduces the tariff realizing the overall situation.

Responding to a query over the price hike of edible oil, he said the duty exemption period on edible oil ended on April 30.

Earlier, Bangladesh Vegetable Oil Refiners and Vanaspati Manufacturers Association has written to the ministry for the readjustment of the price and increased the oil price following the rate fixed by the tariff commission, he said.

“In this context, we wrote to the NBR to reduce the import duty on edible oil but it did not take any decision to extend the duty exemption period,” he said, adding that a decision will be taken on whether it can be reduced in the next financial year.