Bangladesh has granted major duty relief on imports of green chillies and tomatoes to maintain supply and provide relief to consumers. The import duty on both products has been reduced from 25 percent to 10 percent, while the 5 percent regulatory duty on imports has been fully withdrawn. The measure took immediate effect through a special government gazette notification published on Monday.

The notification was issued by Ahsan Habib, acting secretary of the Internal Resources Division and acting chairman of the National Board of Revenue, under the President’s order. Customs officials said the dual duty reduction would substantially lower import-stage costs and could play an effective role in controlling retail prices of the two products in local markets.

The cabinet approved a proposal for duty and tax exemptions on imports of green chillies and tomatoes at its 17th meeting at the Secretariat on August 17. The government cited seasonal output, natural disasters, adverse weather, supply disruptions and production shortfalls as factors that can raise prices abnormally. The gazette lists HS code 0709.60.19 for green chillies and 0702.00.19 for tomatoes.