'Onion import bar may go if prices continue rising'

The government will remove barriers to onion import if prices of the popular bulb continue to rise, Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi said today.

Onion imports have been discouraged because of adequate domestic production, he said.

"We are observing the market and initiative will be taken to allow onion import from India if prices continue to soar," the minister said.

He shared the plan responding to reporters after a meeting with Helena König, deputy secretary general for economic and global issues at the European External Action Service (EEAS), at the minister's office at the secretariat in the capital, according to a statement of the commerce ministry.

Over the last one month, retail prices of locally grown onions surged 78 per cent to Tk 60-Tk 65 per kilogramme in Dhaka markets from Tk 30-40 a month ago.

Prices of imported onions rose 59 per cent during the same period, showed prices data compiled by the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh.

Dipankar Ghosh, port organising secretary of the Bhomra Clearing and Forwarding Agents, at Bhomra Land Port bordering India, said the government office has not been issuing import permits for onions for nearly two months.

Responding another query regarding government's monitoring whether sugar is traded at the government fixed prices, he said drive to monitor prices will begin next week.

The government in the middle of this week allowed refiners to hike prices of highly import dependent sugar by Tk 16 each kg in view of spike in its prices in the international market.

At the meeting with Helena König, Munshi urged for extension of duty-free entry for Bangladesh's export until 2032 under European Union's Everything But Arms scheme for least developed countries.