Frozen fish exports through Akhaura land port nearly halves
Traders blame smuggling of fresh fish through the border of Akhaura upazila
The Akhaura land port in Brahmanbaria – mainly used for exporting various goods such as frozen fish, stone, coal, and cement – has logged a significant decline in the volume of exports in the past few months.
The port's overall export trade has fallen by nearly 50% and almost half of the products that go to India through this port are frozen fish, according to traders and officials concerned.
Earlier, products worth $2.5-3 lakh dollars were exported daily, which now came down to $1.5 lakh dollars, traders said pointing out two main reasons for the decline – the depreciation of the Indian rupee against the US dollar and the smuggling of fresh fish through the border.
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Faruk Mia, general secretary of the Akhaura Land Port Fish Exporters Association, told The Business Standard (TBS), "The export cost per kilogram of frozen fish through this port is around $2.5 dollars. Due to illegal smuggling of fresh fish across the border, the demand for our frozen fish is decreasing in Indian markets."
Earlier, some 60-70 tonnes of frozen fish were exported daily, but now the export volume has fallen to 40 tonnes, he said.
"We have informed the port authority, administration and Border Guard Bangladesh about the issue. If fish smuggling is not stopped - export trade will be threatened. The traders will be affected by this and the government will also be deprived of foreign exchange income," Faruk added.
Even though Bangladeshi traders have been exporting goods to the northeastern states of India through the Akhaura Customs station since 1994, it was declared a full-fledged land port in 2010.
The port, however, still lacks a lot of necessary facilities and infrastructure and is being used for export trade only.
The number of export items in Akhaura port has shrunk over the past few years and the port is now surviving only on frozen fish exports, according to some traders.
Assistant Director of Akhaura Land Port Md Atiqul Islam told The Business Standard, "The decline in exports biting into the earnings of the port. Once the ongoing dollar crisis is over, import-export trade will pick up again."
"Besides, we have informed the authorities concerned about the complaints of fish smuggling," he said.
The Akhaura upazila administration has also found the allegation of fish smuggling through the border to be true.
On 17 November, the task force seized 270 kg of fresh catfish during a raid in the Gangasar area of Akhaura while being smuggled into India.
Akhaura Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) Angyajai Marma told TBS, "After receiving complaints of fish smuggling through the bordering Monyand union, we have instructed law enforcement agencies concerned to remain vigilant and take action when necessary."
