USAID to publish compliance guidelines for Bangladeshi agro exporters to Gulf countries

The Feed the Future Bangladesh Trade Activity of the USAID will publish a guideline on "Food Safety Requirements of Fresh Fruits and Vegetables, and Processed Food to Gulf Countries" aiming to capacitate the Bangladeshi agricultural product exporters to capture the share of the Gulf market.   

As Bangladeshi agricultural product exporters lack knowledge about food safety and sanitary and phytosanitary measures (SPS) measures, regulatory compliances, and customer requirements in the Gulf countries, they are not able to capture the opportunities to export fresh fruits, vegetables, frozen, and other processed food products in the Gulf countries although they present a distinct opportunity for the Bangladeshi agro exporters, a release said on Tuesday. 

The activity validated the contents of a guidance document with input from food business operators, regulatory bodies, academicians, and trade associations on Monday.

The first two easy export publications focused on regulatory requirements for exporting fresh fruits and vegetables and exporting food products to the European Union Countries. Many small and medium enterprises, universities, and exporters are using the guidelines to open new export markets.

The third easy export publication elaborates detailed guidelines on complying with Gulf countries' food safety standards.

The publication includes information on the importance and obligation to follow the food safety standards in order to export fresh fruits and vegetables and processed food to the Gulf countries, necessary process to identify the product's each step starting from production to processing, and distribution. 

The Trade Activity will publish the guideline within next six weeks.  

The Feed the Future Bangladesh Trade Activity supports Bangladesh to bolster economic growth and food security by improving trade facilitation, enhancing market access, and improving the business enabling market.