Dhaka: As Eid-ul-Azha nears, Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed on Monday urged tanners to announce fair prices for rawhide within the next 48 hours.

He made the call while talking to reporters after a meeting over fixing rawhide prices, collection and process of rawhide at the Commerce Ministry, reports UNB.

The minister said rational prices of rawhide will have to be ensured keeping pace with the international market prices so that people are not deprived of fair prices.

He said the tanners will have to announce the rawhide prices at a press conference following approval of the Commerce Ministry.

Tofail said the government will not allow any syndicate to fix rawhide prices at the low. ‘Last year, the minimum price of each square foot of rawhide was Tk 50-Tk 55. The fair prices will have to be ensured this year as well.’

Noting that Bangladeshi rawhide has a great demand in the international market, the Commerce Minister said the country earned US$ 732.97 million by exporting leather goods in 2014-15 fiscal. Cash incentives for leather goods export were increased to 15 percent from 12.5 percent.

Saying the rearing of cow has marked a significant rise in the country, Tofail said some 96.35 lakh cows had been there for sale last year. But this year, some 1.4 crore cows are now ready for sale.

So there’s no crisis of sacrificial cows for Eid-ul-Azha in the country, he said.

Chaired by the Commerce Minister, the meeting was attended, among others, by Senior Commerce Secretary Hedayetullah Al Mamoon, Additional Secretaries Kazi Salauddin Akbar and Munshi Safiul Haque (Import), Vice-chairman of Export Promotion Bureau Mafruha Sultana, Chairman of Bangladesh Tanners Association Md Shahin Ahmed and Chairman of Finished Leather Association Mohiuddin Ahmed.