Plastic goods manufacturers urge govt to cut import duty on raw materials

Plastic goods manufacturers have demanded the government bring down the import duty on main raw materials to 1-3 percent from the existing 5.0 percent.

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 are no local petrochemical-based industries in the country.

“So, we have to import all these raw materials from abroad,” said Shamim Ahmed, president of BPGMEA.

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 stabiliser, stearic acid, polyethylene wax, transferring paper to 5.0 percent from the existing 10 percent, imposing an additional supplementary duty on the import of plastic goods to protect the local industries and fixing the corporate tax at 10 percent for all sectors.

The leaders also demanded the allocation of funds 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 that have developed across the country which meets the local demands where the growth is 20 percent.

“These industries produce goods worth Tk 350.0 billion annually and the government is receiving revenue of Tk 35.0 billion from the sector each year,” said the BPGMEA president.

He said annually the manufacturers export plastic goods worth $1.0 billion which employs several thousand 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.