Home ›› 04 Jun 2022 ›› Front
Bangladesh Garments Manufacturer and Exporters Association (BGMEA) has objected to the tightening of customs on the sub-contract issue.
BGME officials in Chattogram alleged that the entrepreneurs of the major foreign exchange earners were being harassed while processing sub-contracts at custom bond offices.
But, the customs officials of the bond department said, there were allegations that some garments factories were misusing the sub-contract facilities.
At present, a lot of time and money are being spent on clearing of imported raw materials for 100 per cent of the export-oriented garments brought in the duty-free bond facility for the garment industry, said Rakibul Alam Chowdhury, First Vice President of BGMEA.
Whereas earlier it used to take 2-3 days to complete clearing the sub-contract process and now it takes up to 8-10 days due to the role of customs, he added.
On Thursday evening at a meeting, BGMEA leaders and members said after the corona situation, there were a large number of export orders being received by garments owners.
In some cases, sub-contracting is required to complete the production and delivery of the garments as per the order of the buyers within the stipulated time, they said.
But the role of the staff of the Bond Commission of Customs has created a hostile environment for the garment industry in the name of maintaining rules.
BGMEA sources said in the case of large garment product orders the lower-level officials of Customs Bond Department of Chattogram and Dhaka are creating various complications including HS code in the unloading of imported goods of this industry.
As a result, shipments are being unloaded and exports are being hampered. Meanwhile, the Customs Bond Commission in Chattogram sources said so far there were no policies of the National Board of Revenue (NBR) on the sub-contract and some garments owners had misused the duty-free import facilities. The NBR issued a circular on sub-contract in November 2021, instructing all concerned to fully comply with the circular, said AKM Mahabubur Rahman, the Commissioner of Bond Commissionerate Chattogram.
There is no chance to harass any garment owners if they fully comply with the NBR guidelines, it said.
Garment owners have been asked to report specific allegations of harassment, he said, adding that a meeting was held with the owners of the garment factories a few months ago but they had not made any formal complaint.
He also said to bring discipline to the bonded warehouse system transparency and accountability should be ensured on both sides.
According to customs sources, NBR investigations at various times have found misuse of facilities in the name of sub-contracts, including duty-free imports.
That is why restrictions are being imposed on sub-contractors now. Factories whose evidence of abuse is evident are now being closely monitored.
