India restricts entry of Bangladesh's ready-made garments

India on Saturday decided to allow entry of ready-made garments from Bangladesh only through Kolkata and Nhava Sheva sea ports and barred imports of a range of consumer items through land transit posts in the northeast -- a move that is set to significantly hit Dhaka's trade with New Delhi. A government notification said import of ready-made garments from Bangladesh will not be allowed entry into India through any land ports. Besides ready-made garments, plastics, wooden furniture, carbonated drinks, processed food items, fruit flavoured drinks, cotton and cotton yard waste will not be allowed to enter India through land customs stations and check posts in Meghalaya, Assam, Tripura and Mizoram, and Phulbari and Changrabandha in West Bengal, according to the notification.

According to a notification of the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT), these port restrictions will not apply to Bangladeshi goods transiting through India but destined for Nepal and Bhutan, it added.