The first shipment of hilsa to India, 18 tonnes, was exported through Benapole port on Thursday (26 September). Six trucks entered India at around 2:30pm after clearance from the port authority. The export price is $10 a kg, or roughly Tk 1,200 in Bangladeshi money.

Mahbubur Rahman, fisheries quarantine officer at the Benapole fisheries office, said the hilsa consignments reached the port early in the morning with permits from the commerce ministry. After a quality check, they were cleared for export to India. In the first shipment, six firms were allowed to send 18 tonnes of hilsa into India.

Othello Chowdhury, deputy commissioner of Benapole Customs, said six firms had so far submitted papers to Benapole Custom House to clear 18 tonnes of hilsa. "As the papers for the fish shipments were found in order, we gave clearance," he said.

On 25 September, the interim government's commerce ministry cleared 49 exporters to export 2,420 tonnes of hilsa. Of them, 48 were allowed 50 tonnes each and one was allowed 20 tonnes. The permission is valid until 12 October.

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.