The Ministry of Agriculture (MoA) has unveiled a revised fertiliser-dealership policy limiting the number of dealers and introducing tighter controls over distribution.
But it has retained almost all existing dealers appointed under previous governments despite Prime Minister Tarique Rahman's pledge in parliament to review the appointments.
Under the Integrated Policy on Appointment of Fertiliser Dealers and Fertiliser Distribution 2025 (Revised), one dealer unit will be formed for every three wards, while a maximum of three dealers will operate in each union and municipality.
A dealer will be allowed to operate a maximum of three retail sales centres within his or her jurisdiction, while one person will not be allowed to own more than one fertiliser dealership.
However, a directive issued by the ministry has effectively limited fresh recruitment to vacant dealer units, allowing existing Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation (BCIC) and Bangladesh Agricultural Development Corporation (BADC) dealers to continue operating.
The move has raised questions over whether the government has backtracked on its parliamentary commitment to overhaul the long-standing fertiliser dealership system.
According to a directive issued on August 2 and signed by Joint Secretary Dr Mohammad Jahangir Alam, district administrations have been instructed to issue recruitment notices only for vacant fertiliser dealer units under the revised policy.
Applicants who previously applied for dealerships in response to earlier recruitment notices will not have to submit fresh applications, according to the directive.
Their applications will be considered under the new recruitment process.
The directive, however, does not require existing dealers to surrender their licences or undergo a blanket reappointment process.
An agriculture ministry official says former agriculture secretary Dr Mohammad Emdad Ullah Mian played a key role in retaining the existing fertiliser dealers.
The official alleges that many dealers and their family members held multiple dealership licences.
"More than 60 per cent of the original dealers are no longer alive, but their second and third generations continue to enjoy the licences, as if those were hereditary property," he says.
He says the issue also involved the interpretation of the provision of "one person, one dealership".
"Many families hold two or three dealership licences, with each licence registered in the name of a different family member," he explains.
As a result, most of the existing dealerships have remained in place because the individual licences have not been cancelled, even though some dealers were classified in the "red zone" under the previous assessment, he adds.
According to the official, in some cases where a family held three or four dealerships, only one or two were cancelled, allowing the remaining licences to continue.
Ministry officials also say hardly any new applicants were granted fertiliser dealerships during the tenure of the interim government.
The latest decision appears to contradict the government's political commitment made during a parliamentary debate on April 22.
On that day, lawmakers from both treasury and opposition benches demanded the cancellation of fertiliser dealerships allegedly awarded on political considerations during previous administrations.
Chief Whip Md Nurul Islam Moni drew the prime minister's attention to the continued dominance of dealers appointed during previous governments.
He alleged that some dealers had deliberately refrained from lifting fertiliser, creating artificial shortages and disrupting supply to farmers.
Moni called for immediate cancellation of existing dealerships and appointment of new dealers through a transparent process.
The demand received broad support from lawmakers.
Responding to the debate, the prime minister assured parliament that the government would take firm action against irregularities in fertiliser distribution and pledged to revoke appointments made during the previous administration and appoint new dealers.
The issue was subsequently raised through an urgent public importance notice by ruling party lawmaker Mohammad Aktaruzzaman, who alleged that fertiliser dealerships had been distributed on political considerations.
Agriculture Secretary Dr Rafiqul I Mohamed, however, said the review process was ongoing and that new and qualified candidates would be given opportunities in vacant posts.
He acknowledged that many existing dealers would remain for the time being, while indicating that their performance would also be reviewed.
Farm economist and value chain expert Prof Golam Hafeez Kennedy said the latest administrative decision effectively maintained the status quo.
"The latest administrative decision does not provide for a blanket review or cancellation of existing dealerships. Instead, it retains the current dealers while recruiting only against vacant positions," he said.
He said the decision effectively validated the licences of thousands of dealers appointed under successive previous administrations, many of whom had been operating for decades.
"Fertiliser distribution remains a critical component of Bangladesh's agricultural supply chain. A time-befitting dealership policy is unavoidable to ensure fertiliser availability, market discipline, and crop production nationwide," Prof Kennedy said.
Meanwhile, the revised policy removes the provision for separate sub-dealers and unregulated retail fertiliser sellers.
Fertiliser must be sold through designated and approved sales centres.
Under the new system, a single dealer will distribute both urea and non-urea fertilisers, including DAP, TSP, and MOP.
In the policy, sales representatives may operate approved retail sales centres under dealers.
A dealer must deposit Tk 300,000 as security, while a sales representative must deposit Tk 50,000.
A dealer must maintain a permanent warehouse with a minimum capacity of 50 metric tonnes, while a sales representative should have storage capacity of five to 10 metric tonnes.
The country currently has around 5,800 BCIC-listed dealers and 5,200 BADC-listed dealers, along with roughly 45,000 fertiliser retailers.
Bangladesh uses around 6.5-7.0 million tonnes of fertiliser annually for agricultural production.
