Authorities have issued clearance certificates for the release of the newly imported onions

To control prices of onion in mid-September after the South Asian giant banned exports of root vegetables, Bangladesh began sourcing onion from other countries than India.

Recently the authorities have reported that the first consignments of a total of 180 tonnes of onions from Pakistan and Myanmar have arrived at the Chattogram port; authorities have also issued clearance certificates for the release of the newly imported onions.

According to Mohammad Asaduzzaman Bulbul, the deputy director at the port’s Plant Quarantine Station, Chattogram’s Kayel Enterprise brought 54 tonnes of onion from Myanmar while Green Trade bought 116 tonnes from Pakistan.

Asaduzzaman said traders have taken 322 permits (IPs) for importing 1,47,554 tonnes of onions through the Chattogram Seaport Plant Quarantine Center. They will import onions from 12 countries — China, Egypt, Turkey, Myanmar, New Zealand, Netherlands, Malaysia, South Africa, Ukraine, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), India and Pakistan, he added.