A letter will be sent to the National Board of Revenue (NBR) to extend the period of duty exemption on sugar import due to the increase in sugar price and dollar price in the international market, said Commerce Secretary Tapan Kanti Ghosh on Wednesday.

“Duty exemption on sugar import is still in force. It will be over on May 31. We will send a letter to the NBR to continue duty exemption on sugar import,” he said.

The secretary said this while speaking with media personnel after a workshop on informing the stakeholders about the Import Policy Order-2021-2024 to ensure the quality of imported food at the conference room of the ministry.

Tapan Kanti said that Bangladesh Trade and Tariff Commission was asked to take a decision to adjust the sugar price following a letter sent by Bangladesh Sugar Refiners Association a few days ago as the price of sugar and dollar in the international market increased which caused reduction in sugar imports.

The Tariff Commission recommended to raise the price of loose sugar to Tk 120 per kg and packaged sugar to Tk 125 per kg.

Responding to a question about the price hike of edible oil, the secretary said that the duty exemption period on edible oil ended on April 30.

“We also wrote a letter to continue the duty exemption on oil but the NBR did not continue," he said.