Process at Glance

 

Detailed Process of Exporting Live Fish

Step 1: Obtain Trade License

Trade license is a mandatory document to start any business in Bangladesh. A business needs to declare itself as an exporter in Trade License. A Trade License is issued by City Corporation or Municipality’s relevant office (e.g., Union Parishad or Pourashava). An exporter has to take Trade License from the area where his business is located. 

The process of getting Trade License from Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) can be found here: 

The Process of getting Trade License from Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) can be found here: 

For other City Corporation/Municipality/Union Parishad, please visit their respective websites.

Step 2: Become a member of a Chamber of Commerce or a Trade Association

It is mandatory to be a member of a government-authorized Chamber of Commerce or Trade Association for export. The list of authorized Chambers of Commerce can be found here: Registered Chamber of Commerce . The list of Trade Associations can be found here: Licensed Trade Association.    

Step 3: Obtain Export Registration Certificate (ERC)

Export Registration Certificate (ERC) is a mandatory for the export of any product according to the “The Importers, Exporters and Indentors (Registration) Order, 1981”. Currently, the Office of the Chief Controller of Imports and Exports (CCI&E) is providing the Certificate. 

The process of obtaining the Export Registration Certificate can be found here: 

Step 4: Obtain License from FIQC of Department of Fisheries

An exporter must obtain a license from the Fish Inspection and Quality Control (FIQC) section of the Department of Fisheries (DoF).  There are three categories of FIQC license: License for Packer, Non-Packer and Processing Plant. DoF at present is providing the service though an online system.

The process for obtaining License from FIQC can be found here: 

Step 5: Register as an Exporter with the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB)

It is mandatory to become a registered exporter under the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) to get preferential market access benefits like reduced or no tariff. Bangladesh gets preferential trade benefits under the arrangement of GSP, SAPTA, APTA, SAFTA. To see the details of the trade arrangements, click here:

After registration, EPB will provide the “EPB Enrollment Certificate”.

The process of obtaining EPB Enrollment Certificate can be found here: 

Step 6: Register in Registered Exporter System (REX) (Only applicable for exporting to European Union, Norway, Switzerland, and Turkey)

It is mandatory to be registered in the REX system maintained by the European Union (EU) to export to EU, Norway, Switzerland, and Turkey. The Registered Exporter system (the REX system) is a system of certification of origin of goods based on a principle of self-certification. Exporters can themselves declare the Statement of Origin. 

The process of how an exporter from Bangladesh can be registered in the system can be found here: 

Step 7: Communicate with Buyers and Place Order

The exporter begins communication with potential buyers through an enquiry, obtaining details on product size, dispatch mode, pricing, and payment terms. After feedback from the enquiry, the exporter sends a Pro-forma Invoice to the buyer based on the enquiry. If the buyer accepts the provided Pro-forma Invoice, an order is placed, leading to an Agreement. The exporter then requests the buyer to open a Letter of Credit (LC), and upon confirmation, acknowledges the order and provides a delivery schedule.

Step 8: Prepare Goods

After confirmation of the order from the buyer, an exporter takes steps to make his goods ready according to the Sales Contract. The exporters moves product to a packing center, for the purpose of filtering out low-quality fish, grading, scaling, icing, wrapping, packing & labeling. In this step, the exporter applies for Health/Salubrity Certiifcate.

Step 9: Obtaining Health/ Salubrity Certificate

Health/Salubrity Certificate is mandatory for exporting frozen fish as per the Fish and Fishery Products (Inspection and Quality Control) Act, 2020. The certificate is issued by FIQC regional offices to ensure that the products are safe and free from any harmful chemicals or contaminants.

The process for obtaining Health Certificate can be found here: 

Step 10: Declare Export in EXP Form

An exporter must declare his export in EXP Form according to Guidelines for Foreign Exchange Transactions (GFET), 2018 Vol 1, Para. 4, Sec.I, Chapter 8 . Bangladesh Bank has introduced an electronic option to submit EXP Form.

The online process of declaring export in EXP Form can be found here: 

The manual process of declaring export in EXP Form can be found here:

Step 11: Transporting Goods

The shipment process depends on the mode of transport.  Exporters can transport their products from their warehouse to customs via:

1. Their own transport vehicle

2. Can hire third party transportation services

3. Can hire freight forwarders who will manage the transportation process

Conditions for the transportation of live fish are outlined in the Fish and Fish Products (Inspection and Quality Control) Rules, 1997. The conditions can be found in note section. 

Step 12: Customs Clearance

Customs clearance process for exporting Live Fish can be found here: 

Step 13: Collect Certificate of Origin 

An exporter must collect preferential Certificate of Origin Certificate from EPB. In case of export to EU, the exporter declares the Origin of his goods by himself using EPB Export Tracker.  

The process of declaring origin of goods in EPB Export Tracker can be found here: 

An exporter also needs to collect preferential Certificates of Origin for exporting to countries under SAFTA, APTA, GSP, SAPTA trade arrangement. The process of obtaining Certificate of Origin for that countries can be found here: 

Step 14: Forward Documents through Bank for Payment 

After completing shipment, an exporter needs to send the necessary documents to his buyer so that his buyer can release good from the destination’s port. As the documents are also essential for payment negotiation, the documents are sent through Bank. 

Step 15: Submit Export Documents to Bank  

According to FE Circular No. 17, dated April 23, 2019 , within 14 days from the date of shipment of goods from Bangladesh, an exporter must submit required documents to his Bank. The documents mandatory to submit are: 

• Signed hardcopy of the electronically submitted EXP Form (Certified by the Customs) 
• Bill of Export (Certified by Customs) 
• Relevant shipping documents 

Step 16: Additional Procedure

Survey report

The exporter may be required to provide a survey report to the buyer or importer, if buyer specifically asks for it, which contains information about the temperature of the fish during different stages of the shipment process.

This report may include details such as the external temperature during loading, the temperature at the time of loading, the temperature during transportation, and the last temperature recorded before the fish reaches its final destination, etc.

There are third party survey company who bears this responsibility. Some of the companies include:

1. Bureau Veritas.

https://group.bureauveritas.com/

2. Lloyds

lloydsinspectionservices.com

3. SGS S.A.

Inspection Services | SGS

Note:

Conditions for transportation of live fish as per Fish and Fish Products (Inspection and Quality Control) Rules, 1997:

1. Vehicles used for transporting fish shall have facilities for protecting the fish from the sun, rain and other contaminations. .

2. All walls of fish holder shall be water-proof and temperature non-absorbent.

3. Fish-holds, pen-boards and shelf-boards shall be smooth and impervious and capable of being properly cleaned.

4. Fish should be stored in transport in such a way as to prevent damage or crushing.

5. Fish should be transported in covered vessel and should be fully protected from the sun, rain, dust, dirt, insects and any other form of contamination.

6. Decks, holds, pen-boards and shelf-boards shall be thoroughly cleaned and disinfected as soon as fish have been discharged from the transport.

7. Exportable or processed or fish under processing shall be protected from the sun and rain and contamination during loading and unloading.