The government has granted a conditional duty and tax waiver on imports of green chillies and tomatoes to keep their supply and prices normal in the domestic market. The facility takes effect from the day the order was issued and will remain in force for 60 days in total.

This was announced in an order signed on Sunday, 30 August, by Ahsan Habib, acting chairman of the National Board of Revenue (NBR).

The order says the waiver has been granted in the public interest under section 25(1) of the Customs Act, 2023 and section 126(1) of the Value Added Tax and Supplementary Duty Act, 2012.

For the first 30 days, imports of the products will be exempt from the part of customs duty above 5 percent ad valorem. They will also be exempt from all regulatory duty and from supplementary duty above 10 percent ad valorem.

For the following 30 days, from the 31st to the 60th day after the order, the exemption will cover customs duty above 5 percent ad valorem and all regulatory duty. The supplementary duty exemption given in the first 30 days will not apply in this period.

In Dhaka's markets, green chillies now sell for Tk 80 to 160 a kg and tomatoes for Tk 120 to 180 a kg. Traders say heavy rain recently damaged fields, pushing up the prices of green chillies and other vegetables. Tomatoes are a winter vegetable, and their price is comparatively high at other times of the year.

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