India Curbs Imports from Bangladesh at Select Land Ports
20 May 2025 CW Team
The Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry has issued a notification imposing port restrictions on the import of selected goods—including ready-made garments and processed food—from Bangladesh to India. However, these restrictions do not apply to Bangladeshi goods in transit through India destined for Nepal or Bhutan.
The directive, issued via Notification No. 07/2025-26 dated 17 May 2025, takes immediate effect. The specifics of the restrictions are as follows:
5. All categories of ready-made garments from Bangladesh may now only be imported via Nhava Sheva and Kolkata seaports. Imports through any land port are not permitted.
6. Imports of the following items will not be permitted through Land Customs Stations (LCSs) or Integrated Check Posts (ICPs) located in Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura, Mizoram, and at LCS Changrabandha and Fulbari in West Bengal:
1. Fruit and fruit-flavoured or carbonated beverages
2. Processed food products
3. Cotton and cotton yarn waste
4. Plastic and PVC finished goods (with exceptions for pigments, dyes, plasticisers, and granules used as industrial inputs)
5. Wooden furniture
These port restrictions aim to regulate and monitor trade more effectively across sensitive border areas.
However, the DGFT has exempted key essential imports—namely fish, LPG, edible oil, and crushed stone—from these restrictions, allowing them to continue via all routes.
The notification is expected to have implications for cross-border trade logistics and the routing of goods between Bangladesh and India.