Exports of agricultural products, including vegetables, to the United Kingdom, have resumed due after a month-long shutdown to scanner complications ending. To send agricultural products to the UK, they have to be scanned and sent through the Explosive Detection Scanner (EDS) approved by the UK Department of Transport. When the scanner broke down on 9 March, the export of agricultural products to the UK was stopped.
Officials at Dhaka’s Shahjalal Airport said the airport has four EDSs and two X-ray scanners to ship cargo to European countries at Cargo Village. Two of these EDSs are approved by the UK Department of Transportation. One of the two EDSs has been out of order for a year. Export of agricultural products to the United Kingdom came to a halt on 9 March when the only active EDS failed.
Although two new EDSs were installed last year, they were not used to export goods to the UK because they were not approved by the UK Department of Transportation.
The United Kingdom recently approved two new scanners. Group Captain Mohammad Kamrul Islam, newly appointed Executive Director of Shahjalal Airport, said that exports had resumed on 5 April after the mail was received.
The Executive Director of the airport also said that the damaged EDS is being repaired.
Traders of Bangladeshi products in the UK say there is an annual demand of 10 crore pounds of agricultural products in their stores. But domestic traders are able to send a total of 3.25 crore pounds worth of goods. And if the market for vegetables in other countries, including Turkey, Africa or Eastern Europe, could grow, it could reach 500 million pounds.
