Govt approves import of additional 40m eggs.

The government has approved permission for 12 companies to import an additional 40 million eggs to control prices.

On Monday, the Ministry of Commerce sent a letter to the Office of the Chief Controller of Imports and Exports to take the necessary steps regarding this egg import.

This information has been confirmed by sources within the Ministry of Commerce.

Earlier, on October 8, permission was granted to seven companies to import 45 million eggs.

With this new approval, a total of 85 million eggs have been permitted for import by 19 companies over the past two weeks.

This permission will remain in effect until December 31 of this year.

It is estimated that the daily demand for eggs in the country is around 50 million.

While the government has allowed the import of eggs, several conditions have been imposed.

The first condition is that eggs must be imported from countries free of avian influenza or bird flu. Secondly, exporters must submit a certificate from the relevant government authority in the exporting country, confirming that the eggs are free from the bird flu virus and harmful bacteria for each shipment. Thirdly, the relevant officials must be notified at least 15 days before each shipment. Fourthly, if permission is granted, progress reports related to the import must be submitted to the Ministry of Commerce every seven days.

Recently, the price of eggs in the market had nearly reached Tk200 per dozen, rising to as high as Tk190 due to supply shortages.

Following the import permission, the price of eggs has decreased, returning to previous levels, with each dozen now selling for 145 to 150 Taka.

Although the Department of Agricultural Marketing recently set a "reasonable price" for eggs, stating that the price at the production level should be Tk10.58 per egg, Tk11.01 per egg at the wholesale level, and Tk11.87 at the retail level, with a dozen prices at Tk142.44.

In response to the abnormal price increase, the Bangladesh Trade and Tariff Commission recommended temporarily lifting duties and taxes on egg imports.

Subsequently, on October 17, the National Board of Revenue (NBR) announced tax exemptions for egg imports, reducing the customs duty from 25% to 5%. This tax benefit will be effective until December 15.