Govt permits yarn import thru' Benapole

The government has finally opened Benapole land port for import of yarn, ignoring the demand of the local spinning mill owners.
National Board of Revenue (NBR) yesterday issued a notification (SRO-262/2009) withdrawing ban on yarn import through Benapole port.
As per the notification, four counts of yarn--82/1, 100/1, 100/2 and 120/1--can be imported through the port.
NBR sources said the decision has been taken following recommendations by the Ministry of Textiles and Jute, reports UNB.
Earlier, only the bonded warehouses were allowed to import yarn.
Bangladesh Textile Mills Association (BTMA) President Abdul Hai Sarker said makers of these types of yarn (mainly used in making saris, lungis and panjabis) will be affected slightly.
The spinning mill owners had long been urging the government not to allow yarn import through Benapole land port to protect the domestic investments in the primary textile sector.
Ministry of Textiles and Jute earlier took a move to allow yarn import through Benapole land port assuring the local weavers that they would get the imported yarn at lower prices.
Spinning mill owners fear that they will fail to sell their products in the local market and lose competitiveness to India as the government finally allows yarn import through Benapole land port.
They allege that a section of local traders are interested to import yarn through the Benapole land port despite availability of the item in the local market, as they can import through false declaration in connivance with some dishonest government officials.
At present, at least 200 spinning mills in the country supply yarn to the local weavers and employ nearly 200,000 people directly and one million indirectly.
The amount of investment in the spinning mills is around Tk 10,000 crore.