The Bangladesh government has lifted its fumigation requirement on U.S. cotton imports, which has been in effect for nearly 50 years.
This shift will remove a significant export barrier for U.S. cotton to Bangladesh, as well as saving Bangladeshi mills time and money as they look to the U.S. to fill their cotton fiber import needs.
Bangladeshi mills have been paying over a million dollars annually to cover unnecessary fumigation costs imposed on cotton imported from the U.S.
U.S. exporters will continue to use APHIS- generated phytosanitary certificates, but under the new regulation, the certificate will have additional language confirming no live boll weevils are in U.S. baled cotton. APHIS will issue revised instructions for exporters.
Bangladesh’s Agricultural and Commerce Ministries’ decision to lift the fumigation requirements on U.S. cotton came after six Bangladesh Ministry of Agriculture delegation members joined a CCI-sponsored U.S. cotton tour.
The Bangladesh Ministry of Agriculture delegation met with U.S. cotton industry representatives and visited cotton fields, gins and warehouses, and the USDA Agricultural Ginning Research Laboratory.
The tour included a review of the U.S. cotton industry’s successful Boll Weevil Eradication Program and its modern cotton harvesting and ginning techniques.
Bangladesh currently ranks as the No. 2 global importer of cotton, according to the May 2023 USDA FAS global market analysis.
Although there is domestic cotton produced in Bangladesh, it is 1% or less of total demand.