Businesses have urged the inclusion of Risk Management system in the import procedure to reduce the time and cost to trade. They emphasized a major reform in the next Import Policy Order and demanded lifting the 100% inspection requirement for imported agricultural and food products. 

The issues were raised during a seminar titled, ‘Issues of Cross-border Trade: Importance of Risk Management System in Supply Chain of Agro-products’ jointly organized by FBCCI and USDA-funded Bangladesh Trade Facilitation Project (BTF), held on 19 November 2023, at the FBCCI Auditorium, Dhaka. 

While addressing as the Chief Guest, Agriculture Minister Dr. Mohammad Abdur Razzaque highlighted the country's self-sufficiency in food grains and the government's efforts to modernize and commercialize the agriculture sector. He announced plans to allocate space near the capital for testing agricultural products, aiming to streamline the clearance process and minimize time and cost for traders.

Dr Mohammad Abdur Razzaque also indicated that the Government is willing to take any reform to enhance quality export of the country. Implementing risk management can impact Bangladesh’s branding as a trusted agro-trading partner and can be really beneficial in the post-LDC graduation context. 

Earlier in his speech, FBCCI President Mahbubul Alam said, "There has been a revolution in agriculture in the past year. The government is working to reduce the issues related with the cross-border trade. We will soon discuss with the government to facilitate inter-trade”.

FBCCI President Mahbubul Alam emphasized the recent revolution in agriculture and expressed the FBCCI's intention to collaborate with the government to facilitate inter-trade.

Risk Management is a new concept in Bangladesh and BTF is here to support the government and private sector to understand and introduce it systematically with all legal and institutional backup, mentioned Michael J Parr, Project Director, USDA-funded Bangladesh Trade Facilitation Project (BTF). 

The keynote paper presented at the program highlighted that the physical inspection and testing requirement of 100% of agro and food products, without analyzing and assessing associated risk is unscientific and impractical. Risk management is a widely used international best practice that creates a balance between facilitation and control by expediting the release of low-risk products and imposing stringent interventions on the high-risk ones. 

FBCCI Senior vice president Md. Amin Helaly gave the closing speech at the seminar. Among others, FBCCI Vice President Md. Khairul Huda Chopol, Anwar Sadat Sarker, Dr. Joshoda Jibon Deb Nath, Shomi Kaiser, Md. Munir Hossain, FBCCI Panel Advisors, Directors, former Directors and other Business Dignitaries were present at the program.