DHAKA, Oct 23: Bangladesh and India have framed plans to boost bilateral trade by increasing the capacities of 16 land customs stations and allowing the passage of vehicles through these points, officials said today.
“We want to implement the decisions in a practical and time-bound manner,” Indian Revenue Secretary Sumit Bose told a news briefing here along with Bangladesh’s Board of Revenue (NBR) Chairman Mohammad Ghulam Hussain.
They were speaking after a two-day meeting of the Joint Group of Customs.
The 16 land customs stations were selected from over 180 points on the basis of their strategic location and the two sides decided to synchronise their office hours, extend car pass system to these stations and allow customs officials free movements across the border for instant resolution of problems, they said.
“The car pass system will also be extended to these stations for unloading imported goods and customs officials will be allowed to enter the other country without a visa to solve problems…Local problems should be solved locally,” Hussein said.
The car pass system is already in place at Benapole- Petrapole crossing and several other land ports to expedite release of goods. Bangladesh proposed the introduction of the system at other land ports so that trucks could directly unload goods into warehouses.
According to the minutes of the meeting, both sides decided to exchange export-import related information like assessed value and weight of goods to cut pilferage in revenue, particularly for Bangladesh, and to stop the misdeclaration of traded goods.
Both countries also agreed to keep open customs offices on both sides of the Benapole-Patrapole and Akhaura-Agartala land ports seven days a week to facilitate trade.
The exchange of export and import related information is likely to be effective from January 2014 and officials will be assigned at every land customs stations on both sides by November 30. The decisions on the car pass and movement of customs officials are to come into effect from January 1, 2014.
Under the decisions, Inland Container Port (ICP) at Agartala-Akhaura border will be operational from November 2013 and ICP at Benapole-Petrapole and Tamabil-Dawki borders are expected to be in operation from 2014 and 2015 respectively.
Bangladeshi revenue officials earlier said they sought lifting of countervailing duty on garments products by India. Bose assured them that he would look into the issue and refer it to the higher political authorities.
Indian customs also promised to look into the issue of allowing Bangladeshi soap exports, particularly through Agartala Land Port to the country’s northeastern region.
On countervailing duty, Bose said Indian parliament already took a decision on imposing 12 per cent duty through budget of the current year as the decision is part of the budgetary process and the Bangladesh proposal would be conveyed to the authorities concerned. (PTI)
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