Cattle imports from India have been halted for several years, but meat is now being imported instead, and the rise in meat imports has put the country's cattle farms under threat. Farmers complain that because imported meat is cheaper, local farmers and cattle traders cannot compete in the meat market. There are now calls to stop meat imports to protect local cattle farms.

The district livestock office says about 1,000 tonnes of meat are now imported every month. Importers say higher import duty has raised the cost of bringing in meat, so imports have fallen somewhat over the past few months.

A large number of commercial farms have been set up in the country, and many people are newly entering the business. As a result, domestic production meets the country's demand for meat and leaves a surplus. Even though livestock imports from India are halted, large quantities of meat arrive every month. Importers supply imported meat at much lower prices to events and hotels, and with high profits on offer, many are newly getting into the import trade.

Local farmers are losing out because of meat imports, and many see new investment in the sector as risky. Livestock officials say meat imports are being discouraged by the government: import duty on meat has been raised to 20 per cent, with 5 per cent VAT on top.

District livestock officer Dr Riazul Haque said imports are being discouraged by raising the duty, and they have fallen somewhat over the past two months. Demand for meat is growing by 10 per cent a year, and many educated people are investing in cattle farms. People in the trade say meat is imported from India through two or three land ports as well as Chattogram port. Importers say the higher duty has made imports costlier, so meat imports have fallen.

Shamim Ahmed, president of the Halal Meat Importers Association of Bangladesh, the importers' body, said: "The duty went up on 1 June. In all we have to pay 37 per cent in duties, which comes to Tk 150 per kg. That puts the cost of imported meat at about Tk 450 a kg. With imports down, meat prices have risen in the local market. Fifty or sixty people in the country are involved in the meat import business."

Malik Mohammad Omar, senior vice-president of the Bangladesh Dairy Farmers Association, said farmers are being hurt by meat imports. Production costs are rising because of higher cattle feed prices, and local farmers get no government subsidy, whereas India gives its dairy sector a subsidy of Tk 13,600 crore a year, allowing it to sell meat cheaply. Meat imports must stop to protect local dairy farmers, he said.

The livestock office currently collects meat samples from containers and sends them to the laboratory of Chattogram Veterinary University, where three things are checked: whether the meat is beef or buffalo meat, whether it contains any pig material, and whether it carries bacteria harmful to public health.

Professor Dr Himel Barua, head of the university laboratory, said the livestock office sends two or three meat samples a day on average for quality checks, stating in a letter what should be tested. No material harmful to public health has been found in the meat tested so far, he said.

Source: Amader Shomoy. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.