Bangladesh Tanners’ Association (BTA) has agreed to buy rawhide at prices set by government from Aug 17.

The information was confirmed by BTA President Md Shaheen Ahamed after emerging from an emergency meeting with Senior Secretary of the Commerce Ministry Mofizul Islam on Wednesday.    

Stating that the association had assured the government to buy the rawhides at the prices set by it, Md Shaheen Ahamed urged the hoarders to properly preserve the hides till Saturday (Aug 17).   

Earlier, the BTA was called to the ministry to sit in an emergency meeting with Senior Secretary Mofizul Islam to discuss about the issue of rawhide buying, said ministry sources.

In response to media queries, Mofizul Islam said that the tanners had agreed to buy the rawhide at the set prices from Aug 17.

In a statement released by the Commerce Ministry, it has asked district commissioners, deputy commissioner, upazila nirbahi officers and seasonal traders to make arrangements to preserve the rawhide.  

The government has been known to closely monitoring the situation of the rawhide market and intelligence agencies have been tasked with gathering information about the existence of syndicates in the leather market.

Earlier on Wednesday morning, Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader told the media at his office that the government would probe the syndicate allegations and take measures accordingly.