Is betel leaf (paan) a vegetable crop or a product of its own? With a near two-decade dispute between two exporters' associations over that question now settled, betel leaf exports are rising. Exporters say that if obstacles are removed, betel leaf and betel products could earn more than Tk 1,000 crore a year abroad. The farm portal Chashabad carried the report, which first appeared in Ajker Patrika.

The agriculture ministry classes betel leaf as a horticultural crop. From the 1980s it was exported through the fruit and vegetable exporters' association as a vegetable by-product. From 2003 the Betel Leaf Exporters Association began exporting it as a separate product; the association says exports rose from just Tk 4 crore in 2002 to about Tk 200 crore the following year.

The betel association alleges that while betel leaf sells abroad for $5 to $6.50 a kilogram, some traders declared it at customs as vegetables worth $1.20, evading revenue and moving money abroad. Swapan Sarkar, from the accused side, dismissed the allegations as imaginary, saying the association's certificate is of no use to customs and is a pretext for collecting Tk 500 to Tk 750 a box.

In 2003 the fruit, vegetable and allied products exporters' association sued, claiming betel leaf fell under it, and more than 10 cases followed against the betel association. In 2023 the Appellate Division ruled that the two associations are entirely separate bodies. Betel association general secretary Jamal Uddin Sikder said exporters have started work again since the verdict, and Md Mansur, general secretary of the fruit and vegetable exporters' association, said they want betel exporters to trade freely.

Department of Agricultural Extension data show betel leaf exports of 4,388.96 tonnes in 2025-26, up from 3,659.712 tonnes three years earlier in 2022-23. Saudi Arabia takes the most, averaging over 3,500 tonnes a year in the last four fiscal years, with small amounts going to Canada, France and Italy. DAE director general Md Abdur Rahim said exports are growing because production and marketing have improved, along with quality.

Exporters put the market for Bangladeshi betel leaf at Tk 300-400 crore in the Middle East, Tk 200 crore in Europe including the UK and Tk 300 crore in Pakistan, with demand in 33 countries with Bengali communities. They also see room for products such as betel juice and tobacco-free mouth fresheners. Agricultural economist Jahangir Alam Khan said the government should give exporters policy support to raise quality betel exports.

The report was published by Chashabad, based on a report by Ajker Patrika.

Photo: Md. Shahnoor Habib / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.5)

Source: Chashabad