Cabinet approves draft agri marketing policy

The Cabinet yesterday approved a draft of National Agricultural Marketing Policy, 2023 aiming to ensure fair prices for consumers and maximum benefits for farmers through the modernisation of the market. 

The Cabinet meeting was chaired by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at her office.

"The policy has been designed incorporating some goals and targets in a bid to modernise the marketing system of agricultural goods," said Cabinet Secretary Mahbub Hossain while briefing reporters at Bangladesh Secretariat after the meeting.

The prime minister also directed to formulate an agricultural goods processing policy with a view to modernising the sector, maintaining international standards of products and thus promoting the export of processed goods, he said.

He said the directive came as demand has been growing for processed agricultural goods among the Bangladeshi diaspora alongside foreigners abroad.

Regarding the marketing policy, Hossain said it focuses on how the market of agricultural goods can be monitored and farmers provided the highest benefits.

"Steps will be taken to fix and implement the minimum and maximum rational prices of agricultural goods," he said, adding that a total of 19 targets have been fixed in the draft policy.

The policy also speaks of enhancing links between farmers and markets, strengthening information management, improving marketing infrastructures, promoting e-agricultural marketing system and digital markets, strengthening community, group and contract-based marketing; and developing the overall supply chain, he said.

At the meeting, the prime minister said to have also directed considering jute goods as agricultural products, saying that the jute sector should get all sorts of facilities entitled for the agricultural sector, said Hossain.

Jute goods have been treated as industrial products. But the use of jute fibre has significantly increased and created a huge prospect for the goods locally and internationally, he said.

So, now jute goods need to be considered as agricultural ones to unlock this huge prospect, he added.

The Cabinet also approved in principle a draft of Sheikh Hasina Agricultural University Act, 2023 to establish the country's 9th agricultural university in Shariatpur. "It will be an institute like the existing agricultural universities," said Hossain.

With this, the total number of public universities will stand at 54.

Besides, the Cabinet cleared a draft of Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (Amendment) Act, 2023 to replace an existing ordinance that paved the way for the government to adjust prices of gas and electricity without public hearings.

On December 1, 2022, "Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (amendment) Ordinance, 2022" was promulgated amending Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC) Act-2003.

The new ordinance was last placed in parliament on January 5.

"This ordinance is now being turned into an act. No change was made here. It is the same as the ordinance," said the top bureaucrat.

Replying to a question, the Cabinet secretary said the prime minister had asked commuters of the Dhaka metro rail to follow guidelines in ensuring cleanliness and so that the service could be maintained in a smooth manner.

She directed officials concerned to run campaigns to make people aware of following the rules and guidelines while traveling on the Dhaka metro rail.