The livestock department of the central government of India has given the order to stop importing fish through Benapole-Petropole route.

Assistant commissioner of the livestock department RK Gupta told Anandabazar paper that the Indian government is not in a position to set up an Animal Quarantine and Certification office at Petropole. "The importers will have to import fish through Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, or Kolkata using sea or air routes."

"We have nothing to do if the hilsa import is closed for this," said Gupta.

Earlier, in 2001, the Indian ministry of agriculture issued a notice instructing all fish importers to collect import clearance certificate for each lorry from the local livestock office in Kolkata for importing fish through Petrapole.

The process worked smoothly until December 2004, Bangladeshi exporters said. However, from May 16, the livestock office in Kolkata stopped issuing clearance certificate.

During the last ten years, hilsa was being exported to India through Benapole-Petropole route. According to traders, some 10 to 15 lorries of fish, including hilsa, are exported to West Bengal every day.

The first secretary of Bangladesh High Commission in Kolkata Shakil Ahmed Biswas recently told reporters in Kolkata that Bangladesh exported fish worth over US$ 8.5 million in the last six months to India.

Of that, a major portion was exported through Benaploe port, he added.