How directory.exports.bd works
Everything behind the index: how a supplier becomes verified, what each listing carries, how categories map to HS codes, and what you can do with the data.
How it works
A supplier reaches the directory through a four-step pipeline. Nothing is self-declared into publication.
- 01
Trade licence submitted
The exporter provides trade licence number, TIN, and registered company details.
- 02
Registry cross-check
The details are matched against the national registry record. Mismatches are rejected, not flagged.
- 03
Catalogue crawl
The exporter's website and product listings are crawled to establish an operational footprint and seed the catalogue.
- 04
Listing published
The profile goes live with a public verification record and a scannable code buyers can check independently.
Verification is an identity and existence check. It confirms the company is real, licensed and operating · it does not underwrite product quality or payment behaviour. Buyers should still run their own commercial diligence.
Suppliers
Each supplier listing carries these fields:
- Company
- Legal name, registered address, year established, business type.
- Verification
- Trade licence reference, verification date, and public verification record.
- Categories
- Curated category tags mapped to HS chapters.
- HS codes
- Declared and catalogue-derived HS codes at 4, 6 and 10 digits.
- Destinations
- Markets the exporter has shipped to, evidenced by completed deals.
- Catalogue
- Live products with unit price, currency, minimum order quantity and stock.
- Contact route
- RFQ submission · no raw email scraping, no cold-call lists.
Categories and HS codes
The taxonomy covers the sectors Bangladesh actually exports: ready-made garments and textiles, jute and jute goods, leather and footwear, frozen and processed foods, agro products, light engineering, ceramics, home textiles, and pharmaceuticals. Each category is anchored to HS chapters, so a category browse and an HS-code search return the same universe of suppliers from two directions.
New to classification? Read the Bangladesh HS-code guide and the export documentation guide.
What you can do
- ·Search suppliers by name, category, HS code or destination market.
- ·Filter and shortlist verified exporters before you commit a purchase order.
- ·Open a supplier profile and inspect the live catalogue and verification record.
- ·Send an RFQ directly and receive binding quotes from matched exporters.
- ·Verify a deal code to confirm a transaction genuinely happened on exports.bd.
- ·Pull the same data programmatically through the API and MCP tools.
Questions
What does verified mean on directory.exports.bd?
A verified listing means the company's trade licence number has been cross-checked against the Bangladeshi registry, the legal entity name and address match that record, and an operational website or catalogue has been observed. It is an identity and existence check · it is not a guarantee of product quality, financial standing, or delivery performance.
How often is supplier data refreshed?
Registry and licence checks are re-run at least annually and whenever an exporter updates their profile. Catalogue data syncs from the exporter's live exports.bd listings, so stock, minimum order quantity and pricing reflect what they have published rather than a static PDF.
How do categories map to HS codes?
Every category in the directory taxonomy is anchored to one or more HS chapters. Textiles map to chapters 50 to 63, jute and jute goods to 53 and 63, leather and footwear to 41 and 64, frozen foods to 03 and 16, agro products to 07 to 12, light engineering to 73 to 85, and pharmaceuticals to 30. Searching a 4-, 6- or 10-digit HS code returns exporters whose catalogue or declared capability matches that code.
Can exporters claim and edit their own listing?
Yes. An exporter creates an exports.bd account, completes verification with their trade licence, and then controls the company profile, categories, destination markets and catalogue that buyers see in the directory.
Can AI agents query the directory?
Yes. The same data is exposed through the exports.bd Model Context Protocol server, so agents such as ChatGPT, Claude or a custom sourcing bot can search products, list suppliers by category, fetch product details, and submit or cancel an RFQ under the same access rules as a human user.
How much does the directory cost?
Search and supplier discovery are free for buyers. Exporters list and verify at no charge during the 2026 early-access waves.