Bangladesh risks losing UK vegetable market for scanner problem

For many Bangladeshis living abroad, access to produce grown in their homeland offers an invaluable opportunity not just to reap their health benefits, but to stay connected to their roots.

But in the last few days, the familiar smells and tastes of home have been conspicuous in their absence for expatriates in the United Kingdom.

Bangladeshi vegetable exports to Britain have been at a standstill for the past 10 days as the only scanner at Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka is currently out of order, reports bdnews24.com.

At the other end of the supply chain, Bangladeshi businesses in the UK are consequently staring at the prospect of losing ground in the vegetable market.

This is not the first time that they are faced with such a predicament. Exports hit a snag on several occasions over the past few years when the scanner broke down.

On Saturday, Bangladeshi expatriates were left disappointed at not being able to buy produce from back home at New Spitalfields Market in East London, the largest wholesale vegetable market in Britain.

Atiqur Rahman, one of the owners of Anika Fruit & Veg Ltd in the market, said he had not received a consignment of goods from Bangladesh for the past two weeks. He has racked up losses worth around £20,000 in this period.

“They're (exporters) saying that the scanner at the airport is out of order. How does an airport operate with only one scanner?” he wondered.

Bangladeshi businesses in the UK said exporters are only able to send produces worth £32 million against an annual demand of £100 million. And, if Bangladeshi vegetables can be supplied to Turkish, African and East European businesses in the UK, then the market will be worth £500 million.

Sohel Ahmed, the owner of Meridian Vegetables UK, said they cannot sell all varieties of vegetables Bangladesh produces because many are banned in Britain. “Those that are still permitted have not been coming for two weeks.”

He has a few boxes of banana stems, bottle gourds, arums, betel nuts and palms from Bangladesh in his shop. Usually, on the weekend, he keeps 40 to 50 boxes of each item. The shop supplies vegetables to groceries across Britain.

RafiqHaider, president of the British Bangladeshi Vegetable Importers Association, said the market for Bangladeshi produce is gradually slipping away because of the irregular supplies.

In Bangladesh, exporters are ruing the potential loss of earnings due to the absence of a functional scanner at the Dhaka airport.

One of them, Uttam Kumar of Dhaka, said the latest disruption caused by the scanner trouble is the third in six months. “We’re losing our place in the market while the European businesses are becoming more dependent on other countries for supplies.”

President of Bangladesh Fruits, Vegetables and Allied Products Exporters' Association SMAZahangir Hossain said the UK only allows vegetables scanned through machines it has authorised to pass through its borders. The Dhaka airport previously had two such scanners.

But one of them is permanently out of order while the other is prone to malfunction.

The airport has an alternative scanner for Europe-bound produce. Qatar Airways transports some vegetables to the UK via the Middle-Eastern country, but only two tonnes of products can be transported along the route at a time. Also, the expenses related to the service has made it difficult for exporters to rely on the route, said Zahangir.

“This has been the situation for two to three years. We wrote to the Civil Aviation Authority, but they’re not doing anything about it. This is doing damage to the country.

“The UK is a big market for Bangladeshi vegetables and other countries are trying hard to enter it. If they succeed, we won’t be able to reenter it,” he warned.

Mansur Ahmed, general secretary of the exporters’ association, said 10 to 12 tonnes of produce could have been sent abroad had the scanner been operational. He believes the problem can easily be solved by the Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh, or CAAB, which charges 6 cents to scan 1 kg of produce.

“It’d be possible to buy four scanners with the money earned in one week,” he said, “but the authorities aren't taking any measure.”

Mansur claimed Salman F Rahman, the prime minister’s advisor for the private sector, had visited the airport in an attempt to resolve the issue. “But nothing has worked. The government is taking so many steps to boost exports of agricultural products, but we’re stuck at the airport.”

“The business of perishable food products cannot continue with such disruptions. People in the UK won’t wait for our products. Indian, Sri Lankan, Thai and Malaysian products will enter the market. Will we be able to push them out?”

He lamented that the market for Bangladesh’s betel leaf in the UK followed a similar path before flickering out.

Group Captain AHMTouhid-ul Ahsan, executive director of the airport, said it would take around two more weeks to repair the scanner once the necessary parts arrive.

Officials said the parts of the scanner approved by the UK’s Department of Transport are not available in Bangladesh.