Plastic goods manufacturers have demanded the government reduce the import duty on main raw materials to 1-3 per cent from the existing 5 per cent. They placed the demand at a press briefing organised by Bangladesh Plastic Goods Manufacturers and Importers Association (BPGMEA) at its office on Thursday. They said all the raw materials of the plastic industries are thermoplastic molding compounds which are petrochemical-based products and there is no local petro chemical based industries in the country.  “So, we have to import all these raw materials from abroad,” said Shamim Ahmed, President of BPGMEA. Read: Financial interoperability necessary for growth economy; Dr Atiur Other leaders of the association including Vice President AKM Iqbal Hossain, former Vice Presidents ASM Kamal Uddin, Ferdows Wahed and Shahedul Islam Helal were present on the occasion. The BPGMEA leaders also placed a number of demands ahead of the next national budget preparations. The demands include fixing of the tariff value of imported plastic goods at $12, reducing the import duty on PVC stabilizer, stearic acid, polyethylene wax, transfer paper to 5 percent from the existing 10 percent, imposing additional supplementary duty on import of plastic goods to protect the local industries and fixing the corporate tax at 10 percent for all sectors. The leaders also demanded allocation of fund for plastic waste management as the use of plastic goods is increasing day by day. They said there are over 5000 plastic goods manufacturing industries have developed across the country which meet the local demands where the growth is 20 percent. Read: IBBL reaches Tk 1.40 trillion deposits, 1.16 trillion investments: IBBL MD “These industries produce goods worth Tk 35,000 crore annually and the government is receiving revenue of Tk 3500 crore from the sector each year,” said the BPGMEA president. He said annually the manufacturers export plastic goods worth $1 billion which employs several thousands of workers. But the sector suffered a huge loss due to the Covid-19 pandemic, he said, adding that the manufacturers are now trying to recover from the shocks.      

Local manufacturers of plastic products have placed a 4-point list of demands including withdrawal of value added tax (VAT) on their purchase of raw materials to facilitate their business in the country.  Addressing a press conference, leaders of Bangladesh Plastic Goods Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BPGMEA) said the local plastic goods producers collect the used plastics from local sources as raw materials to manufacture their finished products which are used by people from all strata in rural and urban areas.  “But the VAT waiver was withdrawn in the 2017-18 financial year from the plastics goods which are mainly used as crockeries items by the poor and low income people. So, we demand the withdrawal of VAT for next five years to reduce the product cost,” said Shamim Ahmed, president of the BPGMEA, at the press conference at the organisation's office in the city on Monday. He also sought withdrawal of 15 percent VAT from locally made plastic toys, provision for tax holidays, reducing the source tax to 0.25 percent and fixing corporate tax at 10 percent for all business sectors. The BPGMEA also demanded raising the upper-limit of tax-free turnover to Tk 5 crore from the existing Tk 1.5 crore along with reducing the tax regime to 3 percent from existing 4 percent, and giving waiver to 3 percent advance income tax considering the Covid-19 situation.  Shamim Ahmed urged the government to allocate funds for plastic garbage recycling management saying that the country now produces 400 million metric tons of plastic goods which will reach 800 million metric tons by 2025.  “But there is no substantive initiative for management of the recycling of used plastic goods. It’s so important from a health safety point of view”, he said. The BPGMEA leaders appreciated the government for taking measures in favor of business community to promote trade and business across the country. Other leaders of the BPGMEA including vice president KM Iqbal Hossain, Kazi Anwarul Haque, former vice president ASM Kamal Uddin, Ferdows Wahid and Mosaddequr Rahman Nannu.