'Abolish fumigation in importing US cotton'

Local spinners and cotton importers have urged the government to withdraw the age-old provision of conducting fumigation in importing raw cotton from the US to save time and money.

Bangladesh imports cotton from a number of countries, including South Africa, India, Brazil and the US, to meet the huge demand for raw materials for its local market and export-oriented ready-made garment sector, industry people said.

But, in Bangladesh, only the US cotton is subject to fumigation, a process of eliminating specific cotton germ 'boll weevil'. Even a consignment, having cotton imported from other countries, is subject to fumigation, if it has the US cotton.

They noted that fumigation rule was enacted in the late 1960s. It is not applicable now for Bangladesh, as the country meets the huge demand for cotton mainly through import.

The fumigation procedure puts burden of additional cost on local importers. Besides, it consumes much time, and thus ultimately hampers the total export process, said A Matin Chowdhury, managing director of Malek Spinning Mills Ltd.

Mr Chowdhury, also a former president of the Bangladesh Textile Mills Association (BTMA), said his company imports 120,000 bales of cotton worth US$35 million from the US per year to produce yarn and fabric mainly to meet requirements of his other export-oriented factories.

The unbeatable consistency in supply and quality are the main reasons to import the US cotton, he told the FE on Thursday on the sideline of his delivering speech to a US cotton delegation at his factory at Shafipur in Gazipur.

"The US can be a large source of importing high quality and reliable cotton for Bangladesh, if restrictions, like fumigation, are removed," William R Bettendorf, director of the Cotton Council International and a member of the delegation, told the FE.

When asked, Mehdi Ali, immediate-past president of the Bangladesh Cotton Association (BCA), said generally, fumigation takes place after discharge of consignments in the ports, and it takes five to seven days to complete the process.

"This unnecessary process is causing problems and creating congestion in Chattogram Port," he added.

Both the leaders demanded withdrawal of fumigation provision to help boost cotton import from the US.

The BTMA in a letter to the Ministry of Agriculture last month also requested withdrawal of fumigation to help the local spinning mills sustain.

"This is just duplication, as the US cotton is being fumigated before shipment. And there is no information on rejection of the US cotton consignment until date," the BTMA letter read.

Due to the fumigation-related complexities, not only the cotton importers but the spinning mills are also suffering, as it causes increase in lead time, it added.

The BTMA member mills fulfil 80-85 per cent and 35-40 per cent respectively of the country's knitwear and woven garment sectors' yarn and fabric requirements.

Bangladesh imported 8.2 million bales of cotton in 2018, according to the BTMA.

Out of this, some 37.06 per cent cotton was imported from Africa, 26.12 per cent from India, 11.35 per cent from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries, 11.14 per cent from the US, 4.65 per cent from Australia, and the rest 9.65 per cent from other countries.

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