Considering the existing market price and supply of potato and onion in the country, in view of the recommendations of the Bangladesh Trade and Tariff Commission, the National Board of Revenue (NBR) has reduced the duty on import of potatoes to 15 percent and removed the regulatory duty of 3 percent. Besides, the existing 5 percent regulatory duty on onion import has been withdrawn.
The NBR issued a notification in this regard as per the recommendations of the Tariff Commission on Thursday.
Before this, the adviser to the Ministry of Commerce, Salehuddin Ahmed, in a meeting of the Ministry of Commerce on September 1, directed NBR to take necessary initiatives to reduce the duty and value added tax on daily commodities like onions, potatoes, fertilizers and pesticides.
In the notification, the existing 25 per cent import duty on import of potatoes has been reduced to 15 per cent and the applicable 3 per cent regulatory duty has been completely withdrawn. Besides, the 5 percent regulatory duty applicable on onion has been completely withdrawn.
It should be noted that this facility will remain in force till November 30 of this year. It is expected that the withdrawal of import duties and regulatory duties on these commodities will bring down the prices of potatoes and onions and give relief to the consumers
