Frozen fish exporters seek 20 per cent cash incentive

The country's frozen fish exporters have sought 20 per cent cash incentive on their export earnings as the sector is going through a critical time due to the coronavirus pandemic.

To this effect, the Bangladesh Frozen Foods Exporters Association (BFFEA) formally applied to the commerce ministry on December 30 last.

In the letter, the BFFEA said a total of 290 import orders of frozen fish worth Tk 4.60 billion were cancelled because of the impact of Covid-19 pandemic; so, the stock of frozen fish has increased in the country.

The price of frozen shrimp, the key export item of frozen fish from Bangladesh, has dropped by $1 to $3 per pound in international market since March last, it mentioned.

The government provided stimulus package to the country's exporters to help recover their losses caused by the coronavirus, but the frozen fish sector did not get required fund. Moreover, exporters could receive a little amount from the fund due to factors including procedural complications of financial institutes.

So, the sector needs necessary incentives to continue its business in the international market, the letter mentioned.

However, the frozen fish industry currently gets 10 per cent cash incentive for shrimp and 5.0 per cent for other fish exports.

Although frozen fish is a hundred per cent agro product, it is not enlisted as an agro product, said exporters.

They demanded that the government include frozen fish in the list of agro products and provide 20 per cent incentive to the exporters of agro-processed products.

Exporters of the association also said the total production capacity of their units is 400,000 tonnes, but they can utilise only 30,000 tonnes currently due to the shortage of raw materials.

Bangladesh has been exporting frozen fish nearly to 60 countries since the liberation and contributing to the economy, they added.

Meanwhile, the country saw a negative growth (-1.12 per cent) in the overall export of frozen and live fish during the July-November period of the current fiscal year (FY) 2020-21, according to the data of Export Promotion Bureau (EPB).

The industry earned $232.48 million in the first five months of current FY and $235.11 million in the same period of the previous FY, the data also showed.

Bangladesh earned $472.37 million from shrimp export in fiscal year (FY) 2015-16, $446.04 million in 2017, $408.71 million in 2018 and $361.14 million in 2019.

The overall shipment of frozen fish also declined to $500.40 million in FY 2019 from $508.43 million in 2018.

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