The decision was taken at a five-hour tripartite meeting held at the office of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) on Saturday.

Talking to reporters after the meeting, FBCCI Vice-president Rezaul Karim Reznu said they had been able to resolve the crisis in the leather industry after several meetings.

Tanners will pay the arrears in three phases and the payment has already started, he said. “They’ll first pay the dues from 2015-2019, then from 2010 to 2015 and finally they’ll clear the arrears from 1990 to 2010.”

Reznu expressed the hope that the leather industry will flourish within a short time.

“Generally, poor people get the money earned from selling sacrificial animals’ rawhide. So, the fall in in the prices of rawhide this year is unexpected,” he said, adding that the rawhide market is now gaining momentum.

Bangladesh Tanners’ Association (BTA), Bangladesh Finished Leather, Leather Goods and Footwear Exporters’ Association (BFLLFEA) and Bangladesh Hide and Skin Merchants’ Association (BHSMA) sat in the meeting at the mediation of FBCCI to resolve the crisis over the sales of rawhide of sacrificial animals after the Eid-ul-Azha.

BTA President Shaheen Ahmed said the unrest in the industry will end soon as the payment of arrears has begun. “We had to spend thousands of crores of taka for shifting tanneries to Savar from Hagaribagh but we didn’t get any loan from banks.” 

He thanked the government for formulating the Leather and Leather Products Development Policy 2019. “We hope we’ll be able to achieve the target to earn $5 billion from the sector by 2021.”

BHSMA President Delwar Hossain said the amount of arrears is around Tk 3.5-400 crore.

He said they will sit in the next meeting after receiving the arrears of this year. 

Shariful Islam, president of Natore District Hide Merchants’ Association, said they are now selling rawhide at the government-fixed rate.