Ensure both security and speed

The UK government's decision to impose a ban on direct cargo flight from Dhaka has badly hit Bangladesh's exports to UK, particularly exports of perishable goods. The daily export of vegetables to UK has come down to 50-70 tonnes from 80-100 tonnes. 

The UK ban also requires Bangladeshi cargo flights to go through re-screening in a third country. The goods now have to wait twice to be screened, which not only takes an additional day to reach UK but also causes at least 20 percent quality loss of the goods. As a result, the exporters are failing to meet the deadline and maintain the quality of their products. If this trend continues, it will seriously hurt our overall exports.

The government has beefed up the screening process to address the security lapses, but the speed of work has been hampered by shortage of screening equipment. There are only four scanners to check more than 800 tonnes of goods everyday; the protracted security procedures have also slowed down export to other countries.

Earlier the government appointed a British firm to supervise security at Hajrat Shahjalal International Airport. While it should take all necessary measures to meet the security requirement, the government should also gear up its diplomatic synergies to take the UK government into confidence and remove undue security hassles in cargo shipment.

The government has already floated a tender for importing scanners and it should expedite the procurement process. Meanwhile, perishable goods need to be screened on a priority basis to compensate the time loss.