Cittagong Port
Imported cargo release time to be slashed to 7 days
The National Board of Revenue has decided to cut down the existing lengthy time for clearing imported goods at Chittagong port by more than 40 per cent by June 2015 to reduce the cost of international trade, officials said. They said that the revenue board in a recent meeting has set a target to reduce the time for clearing imported goods to 7 days from the existing 11 days and 10 hours.Gradually, the time will be minimised further, they said.
A 13-memebr committee headed by Chittagong Customs House commissioner was formed by the NBR to find out the ways and means to achieve the target, they said.
According to a recent NBR study titled ‘Time Release Study’, average time taken from arrival of a vessel to release of imported goods in the CCH and the Chittagong Port is 11 days, 9 hours and 45 minutes while the time taken to release the export cargoes is 4 days, 22 hours and 38 minutes.
The study found that importers have to pass around 97 to 126 steps to release their goods while exporters need to overcome 67 to 70 steps.
‘The committee will identify the unnecessary steps and documents that are currently followed and needed for clearing imported goods,’ a high official of the revenue board told New Age on Sunday.
He said that the revenue board would scrap the useless steps and documents based on the committee report to simplify the overall procedures in releasing goods.
The decision was taken at a meeting held on November 23 at CCH to implement the recommendations of the time release study.
Officials said that lengthy procedures followed for clearing the import and export goods have been identified as a major constraint to facilitating smooth international trade that also increased the cost of trade of local businesses.
Excessive time for releasing goods at customs house and port reduces competitiveness of Bangladeshi traders and hampers foreign direct investment in the country, they said quoting the study report.
The report suggested that cargo releasing time should be reduced as much as possible within the shortest possible time to facilitate international trade.
It also recommended introduction of a paperless processing system instead of manual clearance system, and reduction of steps and documents in customs clearance and port release processes to reduce time.
Though there is no standard time for release of cargoes from customs houses and ports, in the developed countries it takes much less time than the CCH and Chittagong Port take, officials said adding that in Japan and South Korea import cargoes are released within two hours of arrival of the cargoes at ports.
Customs officials said that the committee was formed comprising representatives from Chittagong Port Authority, Bangladesh Standard and
Testing Institution, Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission, shipping agents association, clearing and forwarding association, Bangladesh Navy and banks as in many cases the delay was caused because of other agencies along with customs house and port.
NBR member (customs policy) Farid Uddin will supervise the committee’s activities.
The meeting also decided that officials of customs house, Chittagong port, BSTI, Bangladesh Navy and plant quarantine office would sit together in a room so that traders could get all services from them which would reduce time and hassles.
The revenue board will also hold meetings with Chittagong Port Authority to reduce time in releasing imported goods, officials said.
-With New Age input
