India restricts port imports of garments, processed food and other select items from Bangladesh

The Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT), under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry on Saturday announced new port restrictions on the import of select goods from Bangladesh, effective immediately.

According to the notification, the import of ready-made garments from Bangladesh will now be allowed only through Nhava Sheva and Kolkata seaports, and not via any land ports.

Additionally, other categories of goods including processed food items, fruit and fruit-flavoured or carbonated drinks, cotton and cotton yarn waste, plastic and PVC finished goods (excluding raw inputs such as pigments, dyes, plasticisers, and granules), and wooden furniture have also been brought under specific port restrictions.


These items cannot be imported through Land Customs Stations (LCSs) or Integrated Check Posts (ICPs) located in Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura, Mizoram, as well as through Changrabandha and Fulbari LCSs in West Bengal.

However, the DGFT clarified that these port restrictions will not apply to Bangladeshi goods transiting through India en route to Nepal and Bhutan. Furthermore, the import of fish, LPG, edible oil, and crushed stone from Bangladesh remains exempt from these restrictions.

This development follows the government's earlier move last month to terminate the transshipment facility that allowed Bangladesh to export cargo to third countries using Indian land ports for access to seaports and airports.

The Indian apparel sector had previously raised concerns and urged the government to roll back such transit privileges extended to Bangladesh, citing trade imbalances.

The decision is said to be a fallout of the recent comments made by Bangladesh Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus on India's northeastern states.

Yunus while addressing a programme apparently in China, had purportedly stated that India has seven landlocked states in its eastern part known as seven sisters and "they have no way to reach the ocean. We are the guardian of the ocean (Bay of Bengal)". He also invited China to send goods through it across the world.