A Cotton Council International (CCI)-sponsored Bangladesh Ministry of Agriculture delegation’s visit to the United States from October 30-November 5, 2022, combined with invaluable efforts by the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) office in Dhaka, eventually convinced the Bangladesh government to relax its nearly five-decade-long fumigation requirement on US cotton imports.
This change would remove a substantial export hurdle for US cotton to Bangladesh and save Bangladeshi mills time and money as they seek the US for cotton fibre imports. Bangladeshi mills have been paying more than a million dollars yearly to cover unnecessary fumigation costs imposed on imported cotton from the United States.
US exporters will continue to utilise APHIS-generated phytosanitary certifications, but the certificate will now include extra wording stating that no live boll weevils are present in US baled cotton. APHIS will alter its exporter instructions.
The decision by Bangladesh’s agricultural and commerce ministries to remove fumigation requirements from US cotton occurred after six members of the Bangladesh Ministry of Agriculture team participated in a CCI-sponsored US cotton trip. The Bangladesh Ministry of Agriculture delegation held cotton meetings in Tennessee, Mississippi, and Texas thanks to the collaboration with the National Cotton Council (NCC). According to the CCI, they spoke with cotton industry leaders and toured cotton fields, gins, warehouses, and the USDA Agricultural Ginning Research Laboratory in Stoneville.
The team learnt why live boll weevils are not found in US cotton bales and an overview of the US cotton industry’s successful Boll Weevil Eradication Programme, contemporary cotton harvesting, and standardised ginning procedures. During Zoom conversations at the NCC offices in Cordova and a meeting with the Texas Boll Weevil Eradication Programme in Abilene, Texas, other topics of discussion included the phytosanitary inspection and certification procedure with APHIS.
The Bangladesh Ministry of Agriculture group members visited Staplcotn, a US cooperative and top exporter of US cotton to Bangladesh, and inspected a gin and warehouse in Mississippi. Sledge Taylor, a cotton planter from the United States, offered the party a tour of his family’s cotton farm and gin operations and an explanation of the sustainable cotton production practices used by cotton growers in the United States.
According to the USDA FAS’s worldwide market research in May 2023, Bangladesh is now the No. 2 global importer of cotton. Although Bangladesh produces some domestic cotton, it only amounts to 1% or less of the overall demand. Bangladesh was a top ten export destination for US cotton in 2022, with $477.07 million in exports.
