Bangladesh Reverses Hilsa Export Ban for Durga Puja

Dhaka, Sep 21 (PTI) Bangladesh's interim government on Saturday said it would export 3,000 tonnes of hilsa fish to India, coinciding with the upcoming Durga Puja, revising its earlier decision.

Durga puja will be celebrated from October 9 to 13.

The development comes days after the interim government, led by Professor Muhammad Yunus, earlier this month imposed a ban on hilsa export to India to meet domestic demand, discontinuing a long-standing tradition of Bangladesh as a "goodwill gesture" to its neighbour.

“Against the backdrop of appeals by the exporters, approval has been given to export 3,000 tonnes of hilsa fish (to India), fulfilling the specific conditions on the occasion of the upcoming Durga Puja,” the commerce ministry said in a statement.

The ministry asked applicants to contact its relevant wing to obtain export permission.

The previous Awami League government led by deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina had allowed hilsa exports to India between September and October every year as a goodwill gesture, a tradition that had been nurtured for years.

Officials said Bangladesh in 2023 had allowed 79 companies to export a total of 4,000 tonnes to India, coinciding with the Durga Puja, the largest religious festival of Hindu Bengalis.

Bangladesh is the world's largest hilsa producer but it restricts the export of the fish due to high local demand. However, during the Durga Puja festival, it usually relaxes the ban on the export of the fish, which is a much sought-after delicacy of Bengalis.

India's Fish Importers Association earlier this month urged Bangladesh Foreign Affairs Adviser Touhid Hossain to allow the export of hilsa to India during Durga Puja, amid uncertainty over the shipments of the fish this year following unrest and change of government in the country.

The Association secretary Syed Anwar Maqsood, in a letter dated September 9, pointed out that while Bangladesh imposed a ban on hilsa export in 2012, it has been allowing its export in a limited quantity from the first week of September until the end of the Durga Puja festival as a goodwill gesture for the last five years.