European Commission (EC) has requested the foreign ministry of Bangladesh to take steps to stop sending illegal consignment of betel leaves (Paan) in guise of vegetables in the European countries.
Otherwise, it warns of taking tougher actions against Bangladeshi exporters for sending last year around 50 consignments of betel leaves which they detected having harmful Salmonella bacteria.
After the warning, officials feared, other Bangladeshi products, which are now enjoying easy access to the huge potential European market, might face various restrictions in the coming days if the issue is not addressed properly.
Expressing his grave concern over the illegal exports, Andrew Owen-Griffiths, head of Food of Plant Origin/ Plant Health, Food and Veterinary Office of the European Commission, sent a letter to the foreign ministry, dated January 28, 2014.
He requested the authorities of Bangladesh to immediately take all the precautionary measures for stopping the “forceful’’ export of betel leaves to the European countries.
“Bangladeshi vegetable exporters have so far sent around 50 forceful consignments of betel leaves containing harmful Salmonella bacteria since the beginning of January 2013,’’ reveals the letter.
“If such trend in vegetable exports continue any further, the European Commission will obviously take harsh actions against the Bangladeshi exporters,’’ warns the letter.
The EC wanted to know what kind of measures the authorities will take against the exporters responsible.
In May last year, Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) of Bangladesh had imposed a ban on export of betel leaves to the European countries on a temporary basis, but the exporters continued sending the item in the name of vegetables, said an official of commerce ministry.
“I have already asked the Ministry of Agriculture and the National Board of Revenue (NBR) to take all the necessary measures to address the EC concern,” Commerce Secretary Mahbub Ahemd said. “Our total exports to the European market may also face a serious setback if we don’t properly address the concern.’’
According to a commerce ministry source, the NBR is now preparing a Harmonised System (HS) of coding to facilitate export of betel leaves. It said the real exporters never send the item in guise of vegetables.
A Director General of the European Commission had earlier expressed disappointments over the Salmonella bacteria, which was found in betel leaves exported from Bangladesh. In an e-mail, he also requested the commerce ministry to let him know about the steps so far taken or under process to produce bacteria-free betel leaves in Bangladesh.
Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) of United Kingdom (UK) had earlier detected Salmonella bacterium in Bangladesh’s betel leaf.
Afterwards, the agency requested the UK government to put a ban on the import of betel leaves from Bangladesh. Following the development, the Ministry of Commerce of Bangladesh had issued a public notification, saying it will impose a ban on the export of the betel leaves to the European countries since May 15, 2013.
The earnings from export of the item is around $135m annually, according to the EPB.
Local exporters shipped betel leaves worth $52m or more than Tk4.bn per year to the markets of the EU, USA and the Middle-Eastern countries.
The value of betel leaves export to the European and Middle Eastern countries stood at over $31m in 2012, according to an official estimate.
