Exporters and importers of India and Bangladesh, respectively, who trade through the Mahadipur land port in Malda district, on Wednesday discussed measures needed to expedite bilateral trade through the route.

Every year, a trade summit is held between these two countries on January 15 on aspects of border trade. Wednesday’s meeting at Mahadipur was a preparatory talk before the summit, said sources.

Representatives of Mahadipur Exporters’ Association and Mahadipur Clearing and Forwarding Agents’ Association represented India, along with an assistant commissioner of Customs.

From Bangladesh, a deputy commissioner of Customs and an official of the excise department and representatives of Sona Masjid Land Port Importers’ Association attended the meeting. Sona Masjid is on the Bangladesh side of Mahadipur.

“At the meeting, we spoke on increasing goods trucks to Bangladesh. As of now, 300 to 350 trucks enter Bangladesh via Mahadipur every day (except Friday). We want at least 500 trucks to go every day,” said Prasenjit Ghosh, secretary of the Mahadipur Exporters’ Association.

According to him, among these trucks, some 200 loaded with stone chips head for Bangladesh daily. The rest of the trucks carry items like onions, fruits and food grains.

Bhupati Mandal, secretary of the clearing and forwarding agents’ association, said trucks carrying items other than stone chips get stranded in Bangladesh for over a month.

“If prices of these items (onion, fruits and food grains) are low in Bangladesh, exporters don’t unload them (fast). Trucks are stranded for weeks. Ideally, goods should be unloaded within 15 days so that trucks can return to India faster. We said so,” said Mandal.

Importers from Bangladesh, on the other hand, demanded export of spices, stopped for months now, should resume via Mahadipur.

“Exporters are not interested in Mahadipur land port as the waiting period is longer. Trucks with spices have to wait for 40 days,” said a source.

A discussion was held as to how trucks with spices could be sent via the border within 10 days after vehicles reach Mahadipur from various places of the country.

“We believe the issues raised by importers and exporters should be raised at the upcoming summit for decisions to expedite and augment bilateral trade,” said an exporter.