In a letter to Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed, the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), has asked him to take serious action against buyers who are involved in illegal activities. The government has been urged to stem fraudulent activities of a section of local buying houses and agents appointed by foreign buyers, claiming they were tarnishing the industry’s image. Local agents and buying houses of foreign buyers secure export orders and transfer export Letters of Credits (LCs) while looking after the overall activities until execution of shipment orders. Currently, a section of dishonest domestic agents and buying houses are handing over export orders or products to foreign buyers without bank endorsement, disrupting the repatriation of exports proceeds, industry leaders say. They alleged local buyers hamper shipment of export items, provide lower quality fabrics to the factories in connivance with the some foreign buyers.