India halts key imports from Bangladesh at land borders with immediate effect

New Delhi, May 17: In a notable shift in trade policy, India has imposed immediate restrictions on the import of several items from Bangladesh through land ports, in what appears to be a retaliatory move following Dhaka’s recent curb on Indian yarn imports.

The Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT), under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, issued a notification on Saturday stating that imports “shall not be allowed through any Land Customs Stations (LCSs)/Integrated Check Posts (ICPs) in Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram; and LCS Changrabandha and Fulbari in West Bengal”.

The restriction targets a range of products, including all kinds of ready-made garments (RMG), processed food, fruit-flavoured and carbonated drinks, cotton and cotton yarn waste, certain plastic and PVC finished goods, and wooden furniture.

However, there are exemptions for pigments, dyes, plasticisers, and granules that serve as inputs for domestic industries.

Garment imports from Bangladesh are now permitted only via Nhava Sheva and Kolkata seaports, the notification clarified.

The directive, however, does not impact transit goods from Bangladesh en route to Nepal and Bhutan. Additionally, the restrictions do not apply to imports of fish, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), edible oil, and crushed stone.

The Indian decision follows Bangladesh’s move in April to ban yarn imports from India via land ports, as per a notification from its National Board of Revenue (NBR).

This came on the heels of India earlier terminating a key trans-shipment facility that allowed Bangladeshi exports to pass through Indian seaports and airports.

India is Bangladesh's second-largest trading partner after China. In the 2022–23 fiscal year, bilateral trade stood at approximately $16 billion, with Bangladesh importing around $14 billion worth of goods from India while exporting goods worth about $2 billion.

-IANS