Reviewing powder milk import policy

Milk is the best source of nutrition, but many people in Bangladesh can't buy it due to low production and supply shortage. One can recall that in the early 1990s, the then government imposed high customs and supplementary duty on import of powder milk on the plea that it would encourage locals to produce more milk and the country would be self-sufficient in milk production. The subsequent governments have followed the same policy in the past 24 years.
But milk production has not increased significantly over the years. Rather milk seems to have become rich people's food owing to its short supply and exorbitant price. Even the middle-class people seldom prepare food with milk. The government needs to review its policy on high customs duty, VAT and other supplementary duties on import of powder milk in order to make it affordable to general people.
Aslam Ibn Shiraj
Dept. of Business Administration
Shahjalal University of Science and Technology