Big corporates, farmers to supply eggs directly to wholesalers from tomorrow

Corporate poultry producers and small farmers will start supplying eggs directly to wholesalers in Dhaka at government-fixed rates from tomorrow, according to officials, as large traders halted egg sales on Sunday night.   
Md Alim Akhter Khan, director general of the Directorate of National Consumers’ Right Protection, shared this information after a meeting with producers, suppliers, and other poultry stakeholders at the directorate headquarters at the capital’s Karwan Bazar today.
He said wholesalers have agreed to the government-set prices and have no objections, as they want egg supplies from producers at the government-set rate in the first place.  
On September 15, the Department of Agricultural Marketing set egg and chicken prices at production, wholesale and retail levels to rein in rising prices.   
However, eggs have not been sold at government-fixed prices, prompting the consumer rights directorate to launch raids against price manipulation.
Subsequently, the Tejgaon Egg Merchants’ Association, which supplies about 15 percent of the capital’s daily demand of 1 crore eggs, halted sales from Sunday night, claiming they did so to avoid “harassment” by public agencies. 
Besides, many traders in Chattogram city’s Pahartali Bazar stopped selling eggs to wholesalers yesterday afternoon citing the same reason.
Despite the government’s price control measures and market raids, eggs were at Tk 180 to Tk 190 per dozen in Dhaka yesterday, up from Tk 160 to Tk 165 four days earlier, according to retailers, 
Meanwhile, egg-laden trucks from poultry-producing districts did not come to Tejgaon and Kaptan Bazar in the capital last night, halting the supply for two consecutive nights.