Importers demand harassment-free service at ports

The importers of daily essential commodities and industrial raw materials on Wednesday urged the government to take necessary steps to stop “harassments” by customs officials and shipping agents and ensure tailor-made management system at ports.

They made the call at the first meeting of Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) standing committee on import in the capital.

The traders complained that they have been harassed by the port and customs authority, shipping agents while releasing the imported goods. As a result, they have to spend extra time and money which is pushing the business and production cost higher, they claimed.

Chittagong port’s laboratory has shortage of necessary testing facilities and only one chemical examiner is not sufficient for faster testing and certifications, they explained.

In addition, goods are frequently sent to different university laboratories to be examined as the port lab is not capable, which takes more than a month causing interruption in the supply chain of products, businessmen said.

Customs authorities fine up to 300 per cent for unwanted mistakes in HS code while shipping agents also charges different fees including documentation, survey, security fees which cost additional Tk 10 crore per day, committee members informed.

Speaking as the chief guest, FBCCI Senior Vice President Mostofa Azad Chowdhury Babu said, mainly less experienced importers make mistakes in HS code.

Calling for better study in HS code, he said that “Its businessmen’s duty to help the government in revenue collection.” Therefore, he urged all to come forward to resolve the matter.

Like India and Singapore, Bangladesh should also introduce Goods and Services Tax (GST) instead of VAT, the Senior Vice President stated, adding that, GST will help to ease the process of revenue collection and decrease tax evasion.

Director in-charge of the committee and FBCCI Vice President Md Amin Helaly informed that products of Europe and USA standard are being manufactured in Bangladesh. Therefore, he called the businessmen to harness this capacity and ensure compliance.

The meeting was presided over by the Chairman of the committee and A2P group Mohammad Khorshed Alam.