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The commerce ministry has sought a waiver of import duties on edible oil, sugar and dates with an eye to keeping market supply sufficient and prices stable during Ramadan.
Sources said the ministry made the proposals to the National Board of Revenue (NBR) on Monday.
It proposed withdrawal of regularity duty (RD), customs duty (CD) and value-added tax (VAT) from these items.
The ministry also mooted that existing CD and RD on import of dates be removed until March 30.
Currently, a 30-per cent RD is applicable to sugar import.
Some 15-per cent VAT is applicable to raw sugar import while CD is Tk 1,500 and Tk 3,000 on import of per-tonne raw and refined sugar respectively.
Currently, the government imposes 2.0 per cent and 5.0 per cent advance income tax (AIT) and advance tax (AT) respectively.
However, there is no VAT at the production stage of raw sugar.
There is a 15-per cent duty at the import stage of cooking oil, a 15-per cent VAT at the production stage and a 5.0-per cent duty at the distribution stage.
As for dates, some 25-per cent CD, 3.0-per cent RD, 15-per cent VAT, 5.0-per cent AT and 5.0-per cent AIT, including total tax indices of 58.6 per cent, are applied at the import stage.
The commerce ministry's request was made as per a decision of a high-profile joint meeting held at the finance ministry.
Finance minister Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali, food minister Sadhan Chandra Majumder, agriculture minister Dr Md Abdus Shahid, fisheries and livestock minister Abdur Rahman, state minister for commerce Ahasanul Islam Titu, central bank governor and secretaries of the ministries concerned were present.
The meeting decided to recommend the national board of revenue (NBR) to lessen import duty on import-dependent items, which have high prices in the local market.
Presently, the prices of the items in question are higher in the market, much to consumers' annoyance.
The government is trying relentlessly to keep the prices and supply of essential items affordable. But the prices of such items often increase.
The items are in high demand due to two- or threefold rise in their demand in the fasting month of Ramadan.
According to the commerce ministry, Bangladesh's annual demand for edible oil is estimated to be over 2.2-2.4 million tonnes, with over 95 per cent of this demand met through imports.
Seven top refiners in the country account for 90 per cent of the oil import.
Besides, the annual demand for sugar in Bangladesh is around 2.2 million tonnes. Some 2.2-2.4 million tonnes of raw sugar is imported annually.
More or less 50,000 tonnes of refined sugar are imported annually, according to the trade commission.