Foreign trade procedures for bond licencees relaxed

The customs bond commissionerate has relaxed export and import procedures for the bond licencees allowing them to carry on their business even when their licences are withheld or their Business Identification Numbers (BINs) blocked.

Earlier, a bond licence holder was barred from doing export-import trades when his licence was suspended or BIN blocked for any wrongdoing.

The decision has been made to facilitate export and import businesses as the world is going through a tough time because of the pandemic and the war.

According to a circular published on 7 April ‘22, the importers whose license has been suspended or BIN blocked, are able to ship and unload the merchandise.  

“This is a very good decision for the businesses. A huge amount of products are halted at the port. But still, customs did not take any initiative to release the products for shipping,” Shahidullah Azim, vice president of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) told the Business Insider Bangladesh.

The trade leader thinks that due to the earlier obligation over suspended license and blocked BIN, export is yet to reach the estimated target. He said, “I hope the customs will be flexible enough to follow the government’s instructions.”      

If the complexities fade, only then the apparel export of April could surpass monthly average shipment of $4 billion, exporters said.

Muhammad Hatem, executive president of Bangladesh Knitwear Manufactures and Exporters Association said, “The government published the instruction early April, but the customs officials were yet to comply. If they follow the circular properly, we could take revenue earning over $4 billion for this month, too.”  

Bangladesh started exporting $4 billion worth of apparels every month since December 2021 but in February and March of this year the proceeds went down to $3.5 billion and $3.93 billion, respectively.

Exporters think they have manufactured apparels worth over $4 billion but could not ship because of several incidents including some juggernaut customs procedures over licence withholding or blocked BIN.

In the nine months of the incumbent fiscal year, exports of the country aggregated $39 billion. Of these, the export of March alone stood at $4.76 billion.