Australia relaxes ban on freight from Bangladesh

Four and a half months after imposing a ban on freight to Australia from Bangladesh, the country of the southern hemisphere has relaxed the ban, allowing Bangladeshi freight to be re-screened in a third country before reaching Australia.

In a letter to the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism on May 5, the Australian High Commission in Dhaka informed the government about the relaxation of the ban that was imposed on December 19 last year, Civil Aviation and Tourism Minister Rashed Khan Menon said at a briefing yesterday.

“The Australian government's move came as a result of overall improvement of cargo security at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport,” the minister said, citing the letter.

Last fiscal year, Bangladesh exported products worth $606.88 million to Australia, with apparel items accounting for $533.62 million, according to data from the Export Promotion Bureau.

There is no direct cargo flight between Bangladesh and Australia.

Meanwhile, Bangladesh is still banned by the UK from sending cargo directly to the island nation. The ban was imposed in March.  

However, the UK validation team, working in Shahjalal International Airport, on May 5 allowed three airlines to carry cargo to the UK and the EU countries from Bangladesh.

The upgraded security at the cargo village does not mean that the ban on direct cargo flight from Dhaka to London has been withdrawn. The freight has to be re-screened at a third country that complies with UK's security standards before flown to the UK or the EU countries.

The three airlines -- Biman Bangladesh Airlines, Lufthansa and Etihad Airways -- would carry the cargo from a particular safe zone at the cargo village of Shahjalal International Airport.

The minister said the whole cargo village would be brought under the safety zone over the next one year so that nobody could question on security at the cargo village.

The British premier in a letter to his Bangladesh counterpart on March 8 informed her about the ban on security grounds and hinted banning passenger flights if a coordinated security plan was not implemented by March 31.

The government on March 21 appointed British company Redline Aviation Security to ensure security at the airport.

Asked about the possible withdrawal of the ban on direct cargo from Bangladesh to the UK, Menon said a UK validation team has already audited the airport's security arrangement and it would submit its report to the UK Department for Transportation, which would make the decision.

“I hope by June the ban will be lifted.”

Before the ban, only Biman carried cargo directly to the UK in its four weekly passenger flights. An average of 25 tonnes of cargo was flown to the UK in each flight.

The ban came after UK security experts found severe security lapses at Shahjalal International Airport. The airport along with 30 other international airports worldwide came under the UK scanner following the bombing and crash of a Russian jet over Egypt's Sinai desert in October last year.