The Bangladesh Trade and Tariff Commission has appealed to the National Board of Revenue (NBR) to reduce import duties and taxes on dates to stabilise their market prices during the forthcoming Ramadan.
According to an official document obtained by Bangladesh First, Ashaju, an import firm, recently submitted a plea to the commission to rationalise duties on dates in anticipation of Ramadan.
The company plans to import dates from Dubai, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Algeria but has faced difficulties due to high tariffs and complex tax structures, hindering the imports thus far.
On 6 November, a consultation meeting was convened with the Bangladesh Fresh Fruits Importers Association and other stakeholders. The meeting was chaired by Bangladesh Trade and Tariff Commission Chairman (Secretary) Dr Moinul Khan.
The discussion addressed key aspects such as market demand, import volumes, applicable duty rates, per-kilogramme valuation, local market prices, and current import incentives for dates.
Analysing available data, it was revealed that the national demand for dates is around 1 lakh metric tonnes, with 60,000 to 70,000 metric tonnes needed during Ramadan alone.
In the fiscal years 2022-23 and 2023-24, date import volumes stood at 86,581 metric tonnes and 80,910 metric tonnes respectively, with average import prices (excluding duties) of Tk336 and Tk497 per kilogramme.
For the fiscal year 2024-25 (July-October), imports amounted to 289 metric tonnes at an average price of Tk433 per kilogramme, indicating a gradual decline in import volumes.
Bangladesh primarily imports dates from Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Tunisia, Egypt, Jordan, Iraq, Iran, and Pakistan.
Currently, total duties on date imports comprise a 25% Customs Duty (CD), 10% Advance Income Tax (AIT), 15% VAT, 3% Regulatory Duty (RD), and 5% Advance Tax (AT), amounting to a cumulative tax burden of 63.60%.
This high-duty structure raises business costs and inflates market prices of imported dates.
To ensure price stability during Ramadan, the commission proposed reducing the CD from 25% to 15%, lowering the AIT from 10% to 3%, and exempting the 5% AT, with these adjustments applicable until 31 March 2025.
The commission further suggested that the Ministry of Commerce could consider relaxing the requirement for labelling importers' names, addresses, and E-TINs/BINs on packaged date products.
