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Newspaper industry faces new crisis

Vested quarters lobbying hard to make 'test' must on imported newsprint

Staff Correspondent
Intense lobbying by an influential quarter to make the BSTI test of imported newsprint mandatory has put the newspaper and publishing industries into a deep trouble.
Although the issue is not linked with public health, the quarter is pushing the commerce ministry to incorporate this import policy.
However, given the fact that the newsprint import is maintained here as it is done everywhere else, this unnecessary' policy would shoot up the import cost and cause delay in getting consignments out of the port.
A number of importers said it took four days to offload papers in Chittagong port and no extra money was needed for that.
But, if the papers need to be tested, the importers will have to pay the port authorities and shipping agencies for 20 to 25 extra days. According to them, the delay at the port will cost Tk 1 lakh for one container.
Thus, for every consignment the extra expense will stand between Tk 20 lakh and Tk 25 lakh, which will amount to several crore taka a year, added the importers.
Since there is no such newsprint testing facility at the Chittagong office of Bangladesh Standard and Testing Institute (BSTI), samples of paper would need to be sent to Dhaka for tests and have it returned to the tax division in Chittagong. This will kill time, explain the importers.
They said the tax division under the National Board of Revenue had its own lab in Chittagong and it could test the imported newsprint whenever it feels necessary.
Contacted, Publisher of daily Samakal AK Azad said, "We import paper after checking the standards and upon fulfilment of the conditions set in the letter of credit (LC). There is no need to create complicacy and waste time and money by involving BSTI here."
At least seven organisations involved in newsprint import and business protested the ill-effort of the influential quarter at a meeting with the commerce ministry on March 24.
The organisations are: Bangladesh Pathyapustak Mudran O Bipanon Samity, Bangladesh Paper Merchant Association, Bangladesh Publishers and Book Sellers Association, Bangladesh Paper Importers Association, Bangladesh Mudran Shilpa Samity, Bangladesher Gyan O Srijanshil Prakashak Samity, and Newspaper Owners' Association of Bangladesh (Noab).
Bangladesh Paper Mills Association has made the demand of compulsory testing of imported newsprint. In this fiscal year, the organisation had demanded increase of import duty as part of its tactic to push local paper. The seven organisations at the meeting said although it had been said to save the local paper industry, local newsprint is not suitable for printing newspapers or any other publications. It frequently tears during printing and in most cases the quantity and weight of it is not maintained by the manufacturer.
Gompared to that, the quality of the newspaper imported is good, and it remains intact and causes less waste, they added.
Noab leaders said a huge volume of paper will have to be stocked if the complexity and uncertainty is created over the import. This will stuck a lot of money.
Newspaper printing might have to be suspended then, they said.
Noab fears a special section may also take the scope to hike prices of newsprint by creating artificial crisis in local market.
In section 19.3 of the 2008 election manifesto, the grand alliance government had pledged assistance to flourish the newspaper sector considering it as an industry and that all discriminatory policy and nepotism in distribution of advertisement would be stopped.
Insection 19.1 of its 2014 elections manifesto, it pledged to declare the newspaper sector as an industry' and promised necessary incentives.
Recalling the pledges, the Noab members said the newspaper industry is now competing with online and television media for survival. So, wasting time and extra money in importing newsprint will hurt the industry'.
They also said they need to import papers of different specifications for supplements, magazines and other reasons. Therefore, as per the prefixed characteristics, there was no scope for testing the papers.
People involved with import of newspaper and its business think the printing industry' will suffer a huge setback if the commerce ministry decides to make the test of imported newsprint mandatory.
ATM Jahangir, president of Bangladesh Paper Merchant Association, said the aim of the quarter
is to force substandard newsprint in the name of saving local paper industry'.
"If the government fulfil the demand of the quarter, we will have to decide to close our shops in the association's next meeting," he added.
Commerce ministry sources said the BSTI took assistance from the Specification Bureau of India to set the standard of testing newsprint. I lowever, imported newsprints are not compulsorily checked in India and anywhere in the world.
BSTI usually test and control the standards of the products that can affect humans directly or indirectly. In most of the cases, BSTI's approval is not required for raw materials.
Contacted, BSTI Director General Iqrarnul Haque said, "At present, imported paper is taken to the warehouses and later inspected by BSTI."
Whether produced locally' or imported, paper is one of 155 products that has to comply with the specified standard, he said.
Currently, 43 products, most of which are food and baby food products, are on the import policy that require BSTI checking prior to the clearance from the customs authorities, said Iqrarnul.
Now it is up to the commerce ministry to decide whether imported newsprint should be incorporated for prior checking, he added.
The BSTI DC said, "We have only about 70 assistant directors and inspectors to monitor standards of 155 products across the country. So the biggest challenge will be ensuring adequate monitoring with this workforce."
Seeking anonymity, a senior official of the commerce ministry said the ministry had not made the final decision yet. But it had already held discussions with the stakeholders to know their views.
"The ministry will send the opinions to the cabinet committee meeting for the final decision," the official said without giving any possible date of the next meeting on the stakeholders' opinions.