Published :
Updated :
For all latest news, follow The Financial Express Google News channel.
Fisheries and Livestock Minister Narayan Chandra Chanda on Monday said that the government will allow the legal export of hilsa fish to ‘stop smuggling’.
The minister came up with the information while responding to reporters at the conference room of the ministry in the morning after a press briefing.
“Our hilsa production has increased and there is demand in the international market so we want to move towards exports,” the minister was quoted by bdnews24 as saying.
The Ministry of Commerce banned the export of hilsa and other fish on Aug 1, 2012. The ban on all fish except hilsa was lifted on Sept 23 of that year.
Though the ban is in effect, hilsa fish are being smuggled out of the country, Chanda said.
“As a result the government is losing out in taxes. If we allow exports it will open the way for legal trade and diminish smuggling significantly.”
The government will also continue conservation efforts to protect female hilsa fish.
The minister also said that there is no need to import meat in the country now as the government has a plan to be self-sufficient in meat production, news agency UNB reports.
"The price of meat is reducing at the markets and we expect that it will continue," he said.
Narayan said the government will take steps to reduce the price. But it will not be possible to reduce price like the past.
'However, we will bring the meat price under control within 1-2 years," he said.
The minister also informed that the government has already taken a project titled 'Beef Cattle Development' for increasing meat production.