The Commerce Ministry's Business Promotion Council (BPC) has given its consent to allow exporters of chilled fish to receive more cash incentives.
The Business Promotion Council (BPC) under the commerce ministry currently offers different initiatives to boost export growth of various sectors.
It has recently requested the ministry for steps to incentivize exporters of such fish.
Earlier, the Bangladesh Live and Chilled Food Exporters Association (BLCFEA) sought a 25% cash incentive for its members.
The BLCFEA got membership of the council in 2020.
The state-run agency has recently requested the ministry to take action in this connection.
"We've requested the government to take action regarding a cash incentive for the export of chilled fish to increase export earnings," said an official.
The chilled fish sector currently enjoys 7-10% cash incentive on shrimp exports and 2-5% on other fish exports.
Currently members of the association export crab, eel and chilled fish.
The sector enjoys a 10% export subsidy for crab and eel exports.
The exporters have been severely affected due to the spread of Covid-19, according to a letter it earlier sent to the Fisheries Department.
The association thinks that the export of chilled fish is riskier than that of frozen fish.
This is unfortunate that the product is being deprived of the government's cash incentive facility, it argued.
Exporters suggested the government give incentive to chilled fish exports to help offset the pandemic-induced losses as the sector has huge export potential.
Khairuddin Ahmed, chairman of the association, earlier said businesses in this sector had suffered huge losses due to the Covid-19 pandemic in the past two years.
He called for incentives to make up for the losses. Without direct state care, the traders of this sector would not be able to recover.
Chilled shrimp, pomfret, tilapia, rui (a variant of carp), katla (South Asian carp) and other freshwater and sea fish are exported to Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong, India, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and countries in Europe.
On average, Bangladesh exports Tk150-200 crore worth of chilled fish annually, according to the association.
Chilling is a process by which the temperature of fish is lowered to a point near freezing but not below it by means of heat withdrawal, according to an article available on Research Gate.
The freezing point for different fish species varies between -0.6°C and -2.2°C and depends on the concentration of cell fluids.
It is usually taken as equal to -1°C.
Fish and fishery products processed in this way are called chilled products.
