Customs act in limbo for 4 years

Bangladesh will celebrate International Customs Day today in a befitting manner across the country while the customs act has been in limbo over getting the final nod for around four years.

The law has been drafted and is now awaiting vetting, said National Board of Revenue (NBR) Chairman Abu Hena Md Rahmatul Muneem.

After that, it will be presented to parliament, he told a press meet at the NBR office in the capital’s Segun Bagicha on Wednesday.

Muneem said he had seen the law in parliament around three years and a half ago.

“We were later asked to make some amendments, which we did and sent for vetting again. But vetting has not been done yet even though we have repeatedly urged the law ministry to complete the process.”

Answering to questions about money laundering, the revenue board chairman said Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit is mainly working on it.

However, the NBR as a major stakeholder is also trying to find overinvoicing and underinvoicing to curb money laundering, he said.

Muneem said it is not true that prices have increased due to high duties and taxes. “It may have happened due to a lack of proper utilisation of raw materials. We have to see if a syndicate is behind price hikes.”

He also said Bangladesh Trade and Tariff Commission as well as the commerce ministry have no right to increase duties.

“They can request the NBR to reduce or increase duties on products. The NBR will make the final decision.”

The NBR chief further said, “We have to consider whether local production will be hampered when duties are increased because traders produce their goods through importing raw materials. We also have to consider whether increased duties will fuel smuggling.”

He said this in reply to a question about imposing additional duties on 330 products. The commerce ministry had urged the NBR to impose these additional duties considering the foreign exchange crunch.

Like every year, the NBR will observe the customs day centrally in the capital while other customs offices across the country will do so locally, Muneem added.