Govt puts a bar on rawhide transport to border areas

The government will not allow transportation of rawhide to border areas for 30 days from the day of Eid-ul-Azha to check smuggling, Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed said yesterday.
More border guards will be deployed during the period to heighten vigilance, he told reporters after a meeting with the Bangladesh Tanners Association, Bangladesh Hide and Skin Merchant Association and Bangladesh Finished Leather Goods and Footwear Exporters Association.
The move comes as a section of unscrupulous traders purchase rawhide at a low cost every year during the religious festival and sneak them out of the country to sell at a higher price.
As a result, the country has been losing its competitiveness in leather business in the international market, he added.
Meanwhile, the commerce ministry is due to fix the minimum price of leather by October 3, so that sellers at the grassroots level get a fair price and are not subjected to price manipulation by a section of seasonal merchants.
More than 65.39 lakh cattle were sacrificed during last Eid-ul-Azha, according to the data from the Department of Livestock.
The commerce ministry put a bar on export of rawhide in 2012 to meet the demand of the local leather industry, although many traders applied to the ministry seeking permission for export.
In fiscal 2013-14, Bangladesh exported leather, leather goods and footwear worth $1.30 billion, according to the commerce ministry. Japan, the EU and the US are the major markets for Bangladeshi leather and leather goods.
The Eid-ul-Azha is scheduled to be celebrated on October 6. At present, a total of 194 tanners buy rawhide during the Eid.
The number of large tanneries is 266 and small and medium tanneries 1,600, according to Ahmed.