Bangladesh Tea Association (BTA) on Monday demanded the government reinstate 20 percent supplementary duty, imposed earlier on imported tea, to safeguard the local tea producers and protect them from uneven competition.
BTA leaders, led by its chairman M Safwan Chowdhury, put forward their demands in a letter sent to Finance Minister AMA Muhith at his secretariat office.
The BTA in the letter mentioned that the import of cheap and substandard tea has been on the rise since 2010 which has led the country’s tea industry to an uneven competition and caused concern about the local tea producers.
Following a request from the BTA, the government had earlier imposed 20 percent supplementary duty on imported tea to shield the local tea industry, which was reflected on the Finance Act in 2012 and the proposed Finance Bill, 2013. But, the 20 percent supplementary duty was withdrawn from the Finance Bill, 2013 just before passing of the national budget for fiscal 2013-14.
The Association noted that the import of substandard tea in recent times is on the rise as the import of tea totalled 10.62 million kgs in 2013 which was only 1.92 million kgs due to imposition of 20 percent supplementary duty. Before that tea import totalled 4.98 million kgs in 2011 while 4.13 million kgs in 2010.
It was also noted that the weekly tea sale is gradually declining to an alarmingly in the current season (2013-2014) as the average auction price in the first sale (30.4.2013) was Tk 274.98 per kg which came down to Tk 143.12 per kg in the 39th sale (18.2.2014).
As a result, some 50-60 percent tea remains unsold for which the quantity of unsold tea is mounting high while per kg auction price is also declining gradually.
The Bangladesh Tea Association leaders also feared that if the downward trend of tea sale continues further, the tea sale price would go much below the production price, which would have a serious impact on the local tea industry.
It is mentionable that neighbouring India, one of the biggest tea producer countries of the world, had imposed 110 percent supplementary duty on the imported tea for the sake of the local tea industry.
Source: UNB Connect
