A surge in hilsa prices at each level of the supply chain due to the dominance of profit-mongers amid lacklustre regulatory efforts by the government agencies concerned has sent the delicacy out of the reach of the majority of consumers in Bangladesh.
The dominance of intermediaries, including advance moneylenders, on the supply chain having four to six levels is also depriving fishermen of fair prices of their harvests in the sea and rivers, said a study conducted by the Bangladesh Trade and Tariff Commission.
Consumers Association of Bangladesh leaders observed that the Tariff Commission had been releasing reports on the hilsa situation over the past several years, but there were no effective measures from the government agencies in this regard.
Ministries and divisions concerned should be blamed for the situation as they do not put extra efforts to prevent fisherman exploitation by advance moneylenders, said CAB president AHM Shofiquzzaman.
The CAB president said that the finance ministry in association with the fisheries and livestock ministry should take steps to root out the menace of advance moneylenders.
Terming advance moneylending, usually a means of exploitation by moneylenders, the first level of supply chain, the study said that the prices dictated by the intermediaries had been one of the key reasons for the price hikes of the silvery delight by 57.14 per cent over the past five years.
Consumers have to shoulder the extra cost to taste the national fish, said the study.
The study has been released against the backdrop of scarcity of the fish and the lower export price than the selling prices of the item on the local market.
The study said the majority of consumers could not afford hilsa because of exorbitant prices of the item during its peak harvest season.
The minimum price of hilsa went up to Tk 900 in September from Tk 600 in June, posting an increase of 50 per cent, said the study by the Bangladesh Trade and Tariff Commission, a statutory body under the commerce ministry.
It also said that the price of Tk 1,533.90 a kilogram set for the export of 1,200 tonnes of hilsa to India on the occasion of Durga Puja, the biggest religious festival of Bengali Hindus, was lower than the price of Tk 2,200 a kilogram on the local market.
Expressing disappointment over the overall hilsa trade and market regulation by the government, the CAB president said that the price monopoly by intermediaries should be streamlined.
Identifying falling production, stockpiling, price hike of fuel oils and high demand as the other reasons for the scarcity of the item, the Tariff Commission study has suggested that the government set the prices of hilsa based on sizes.
鈥楽uch a step will discourage the high floor price set by advance moneylenders and prevent the initial price hike of the fish,鈥� said the study.
The study also proposed formulating a national policy for setting fair profits for each level of marketing to curb the prices dictated by intermediaries and facilitating easy bank loans for fishermen to check exploitation by advance moneylenders.聽聽
