DHAKA, July 19 (NNN-BSS) – Chinese seafarers and vessels have been exempted from a mandatory 14-day quarantine in Bangladesh, a senior official said here Saturday.
Captain KM Jasim Uddin Sarker, chief nautical surveyor of the Bangladesh’s Department of Shipping, said, the decision has been made following the remarkable improvement of COVID-19 situation in China.
“We amended a Feb circular that made mandatory 14-day quarantine for Chinese vessels and seafarers berthing at our seaports,” Sarker said.
They issued a fresh circular last week, to make Chinese vessels and seafarers free from quarantine restrictions in Bangladesh waters.
“We regularly conducted screening of Chinese seafarers onboard Chinese vessels, but did not get anyone infected with the virus till date,” he said.
Under such circumstances, Bangladesh decided to relieve Chinese seafarers and vessels from mandatory quarantine, in order to bolster bilateral trades.
Meanwhile, Sarker said, Bangladesh is in dire need for clearing quickly, import consignments at its seaports from China, to keep its supply chains uninterrupted and cost effective.
The Chattogram port is, so far, the country’s premier seaport and the gateway for about 90 percent of Bangladesh’s and China’s bilateral trade, which is expected to hit 20 billion U.S. dollars by 2021, against the backdrop of China’s recent announcement to provide tariff exemption for 97 percent of exports from Bangladesh.
With the new announcement, the number of Bangladeshi products with zero duty access to Chinese market has risen to 8,256 this month.– NNN-BSS
