The government has completely lifted the duty on rice imports to control rice prices and increase stocks.
The National Board of Revenue (NBR) issued a notification in this regard on Thursday (October 31).
It said that, by virtue of the powers conferred by sub-section (1) of section 25 of the Customs Act, 2023 (Act No. 57 of 2023), in consultation with the National Board of Revenue, in the public interest, all customs duties and regulatory duties applicable to the import of parboiled rice and parboiled rice other than parboiled rice among the products included in the first schedule of that act have been exempted.
Stating that the notification will come into effect immediately, the NBR also said that before importing rice at a concessional rate under this notification, written approval must be obtained for each consignment from an officer of at least the rank of Joint Secretary nominated by the Ministry of Food.
Earlier, on October 20, the NBR reduced the existing import duty on rice from 25 percent to 15 percent, the existing regulatory duty from 25 percent to 5 percent, and the existing 5 percent advance tax was completely withdrawn.
However, on October 29, due to the disruption of rice production due to floods, the Bangladesh Trade and Tariff Commission recommended the complete withdrawal of the currently applicable import duty on rice imports in order to increase the supply of rice in the local market and keep the price stable. In a report, the organization said that the report said that the widespread disruption of rice production due to natural disasters such as floods in the country has led to a negative impact on the supply of rice in the country as per the target in the upcoming production season. In addition, if the current duty on rice imports is withdrawn, local producers and farmers will not be affected.