The Ministry of Commerce has urged the National Board of Revenue (NBR) to withdraw customs duty on onion import, aiming to keep its price stable in the market.

The ministry also urged the NBR to slash import duties on crude soybean oil, palm oil and sugar to cool the overheated domestic market.

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The request was made at a meeting of the Ministry of Commerce at the Secretariat on Monday to keep the stock, supply, import and price situation of the commodities stable.

“NBR has been requested to withdraw the import duty on onion, and reduce the duties on crude soybean, palm oil and unrefined sugar in public interest,” additional secretary to Import and Internal Trade division of the Commerce Ministry AHM Safiquzzaman said at the meeting.

The Ministry of Agriculture has been requested to issue IP by completing the quarantine examination of imported onions as soon as possible, he added.

According to the ministry, two teams, led by Commerce Ministry officials, regularly monitor important markets in the Dhaka City Corporation areas every day.

Market monitoring is also done in districts and upazilas led by Deputy Commissioners and Upazila Nirbahi Officers and with the help of the officials of the National Consumers Rights Protection Department.

To keep the onion market stable from the experience of the last year, onion sales started in September through the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB).

TCB has been selling 400 to 1000 kg of onions in 400 trucks every day (20-25 days per month) since September, 2021.

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The amount of onion allotment per truck will be increased, if required, said the ministry officials.

Other products -- sugar, soybean oil and lentils -- along with onions are sold regularly.

TCB is running regular sales from trucks in Dhaka with 80-95 trucks. It has so far procured 15,000 metric tonnes of onion from India and Turkey, they said.