They said the government should remove the 5 percent import duty on lentil, onion, garlic and ginger as it had already done successfully with rice and wheat.

They also suggested that a specific import duty be introduced on products such as soybean, palm oil and powdered milk. A specific duty is a taka amount rather than a percentage of the import price and in other cases has resulted in a lower duty.

The business leaders made their comments at a discussion on essential prices and supply organised by the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) at its conference room in Dhaka.

Apart from cuts in duty they also suggested toll-free transportation of agricultural produce, encouraging cooperatives among small farmers, removing middlemen and allowing trucks to increase the load they can carry over the Jamuna Bridge to 15 tonnes from the current 12 tonnes.

The speakers urged the government to expand its sales outlets of rice and lentil at fair prices to district level towns and also recommended the amendment of Hoarding Act, implementation of Consumer Protection Act.

Presided over by Acting President of FBCCI Mohammad Ali, the meeting was attended by, among others, Director General of Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) Major General Shakil Ahmed, Commerce Secretary Feroz Ahmed, and National Board of Revenue (NBR) Member Rashid-ul Ahsan and FBCCI former president Yusuf Abdullah Haroon.

Responding to demands on setting up sales outlets at the districts level, Shakil Ahmed said with private sector cooperation the BDR has set up sales outlets in the capital. "The sales outlets would be set up in the district level towns under public-private cooperation," he said.

He said the BDR's market intervention is temporary and they will give back the market control to the private sector after prices return to normal.

Shakil assured the business leaders of the removal of hidden business cost such as extortion as part of the effort to keep the essential prices normal.

He also said the BDR is trying to establish a co-operative system for the farmers so that the farmers can sell their produces to the consumers directly.

Addressing the function, Feroz Ahmed said in real sense there is no control in essentials price hike. "There should be a separate organisation, which will monitor and control the prices on a day-to-day basis. It will examine the local and international prices of the commodities and will take necessary steps against abnormal selling price comparing to international prices," he said.

To check food adulteration, the agency will collect samples of items from the market to examine their quality and purity, the commerce secretary said.

Rashid-ul Ahsan emphasised maintaining a secured supply-chain of essentials, as if there is any distortion in the supply-chain, the price will be up.

The commerce secretary, however, differed with the demand of withdrawing import duty saying that the duty removal would not help support the price reduction.

"It's a distorted market," he said, requesting the business community to keep the prices at an affordable level.

About increasing the number of wholesale markets, he said the government has a plan to set up six more markets in the capital.