Bangladesh Tea Association (BTA) yesterday demanded of the government to reinstate 20% supplementary duty on tea import to protect local producers.
BTA said import of tea increased to 10.62 million kg in 2013 from 1.92 million kg in 2012 due to the withdrawal of the duty. The supplementary duty was lifted in the budget for the current financial year.
A delegation of the association put forward the demand to Finance Minister AMA Muhith at his ministry, urging him to save the local industry from the uneven competition with imported tea.
At present, the tea import is subject to 61% duty as against 110% in India.
The BTA leaders argued that the local tea producers are facing tough competition due to import of substandard and cheaper tea from different countries, taking the duty advantage.
As a result, locally produced tea remains unsold at every auction in Chittagong, they said. Bangladesh annually produces around 62 million kg of tea against the average internal demand for 56 million kg.
According to Bangladesh Tea Board (BTB), there are 165 tea estates in the country located in Moulvibazar, Sylhet, Habiganj, Chittagong, Rangamati, Brahmanbaria and Panchagarh.
Of them, 91 are in Moulvibazar, 22 in Habiganj, 19 in Sylhet, 22 in Chittagong, 9 in Panchagarh and one each in Rangamati and Brahmanbaria.
Though tea production had increased significantly in last four decades, tea export had been falling over the years mainly because of increased domestic consumption, BTA leaders said.
Bangladesh exported only 1.11 million kg of tea in 2012 against 18.10 million kg in 2000.