Dhaka, Nov. 11 -- Bangladesh's agro-processing industry, one of the country's most promising growth sectors, is enmeshed in a web of regulatory tangles, costly testing requirements and weak coordination among government agencies, industry leaders say.

"Producers are forced to deal with multiple regulators to bring agricultural products to market," says Kamruzzaman Kamal, Director (Marketing) of PRAN-RFL Group.

"We have to pay 0.1 per cent of revenues to BSTI on all sales of agricultural products," he told reporters Tuesday.

"First, you need Tk 1,000 for an application form, and then Tk 8,000 to Tk 30,000 for tests and inspections," Mr Kamal adds, describing the financial burden of compliance.

Mr Kamal, a veteran marketer, was speaking...