KARACHI: Bangladesh has banned exports of raw jute till further notice causing severe hardships for millers in Pakistan.

In a statement, the Pakistan Jute Mills Asso­ciation (PJMA) said it had been urging the government to get at least those consignments shipped for which the mills have made payments and the raw jute was waiting to be shipped at the ports.

“Under section 4 and 13 of the Bangladesh Jute Ord­inance 1962, the export of raw jute will remain suspended until further notice for proper implementation of the Bangladesh Mandatory Jute Packaging Act-2009,” it says.

Earlier, a similar ban was imposed for a month starting Nov 3. The PJMA said it had earlier appealed at all forums including Bangladeshi High Commissioner, president of Saarc Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Pakistani government to help release of its jute consignments for which letter of credits (L/Cs) had already been established before the imposition of ban.

Pakistan, one of the biggest importers of Bangladesh jute, fulfils all the basic raw material requirements of its jute industry from single country imports, the association said.

It said provincial food departments and Passco would face difficulties due to non-availability of jute sacks. The storage of the crop yields, especially of wheat, rice, grains, and potatoes are likely to go waste throughout the country given a scenario of “no supply of sacks”, the PJMA added.

It urged the government of Bangladesh to reconsider its decision in the best interest of the business communities of both the countries.

Published in Dawn, December 8th, 2015