NBR to lift barriers to plastic goods exports

Doulot Akter Mala | Published: March 06, 2011 00:00:00 | Updated: February 01, 2018 00:00:00

Doulot Akter Mala
The government has decided to remove all the existing barriers that the exporters of local plastic goods face, to salvage the Tk 12 billion export industry. The NBR is going to withdraw the mandatory system of using label and providing cent per cent bank guarantee for a plastic goods exporter, enjoying bonded warehouse facilities for import of basic raw materials. Finance Minister A M A Muhith recently approved a proposal of the National Board of Revenue (NBR) on removal of the barriers, said a senior tax official. The board will issue an order in this connection by this week. After issuance of the order, the plastic goods exporters will enjoy the same privileges like the other ones under the bonded facilities, he added. The mandatory rules on providing cent per cent bank guarantees to unload raw plastic materials, imported under bonded facilities, will be withdrawn. The NBR will also withdraw the provision about marking the label -- 'Imported under bond, not for sale' -- on the bags of plastic raw materials. The moves came following the closure of nearly 100 companies, exporting plastic goods, during the last two years due to imposition of those new rules to check tax evasion. Industry insiders said the number of exporters has now declined to 250 from 350 in 2008, for the mandatory rules. Local plastic goods manufacturers and the apex chamber body had made several requests to the government to withdraw the rules. They hailed the recent decision of withdrawing all types of barriers for the local industry. "The cost of doing business for local plastic goods manufacturing units increased by 5.0 per cent due to the barriers, said Shahedul Islam Helal, president of the Bangladesh Plastic Goods Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BPGMEA). "A number of plastic goods industries faced closure, as they failed to afford the increased production cost," he said. He also said a section of importers had influenced the government to impose the barriers to destroy the local export-oriented sector. "It is surprising that all the exporters, enjoying bonded facilities, are not facing such barriers, except the plastic goods exporters. It is a discriminatory measure." It was a discouraging policy also, as the exporters had to face different hassles and spend extra time in the port for arranging cent per cent bank guarantees, he added. First vice president of Federation of the Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI), Jasim Uddin said: "Export growth stood at 41 per cent in recent times. Backward linkage industry has a major contribution to this growth." The rule of mandatory bank guarantee was not logical, as none of the bank guarantees were en-cashed in the last two years, said Jasim, also a former president of the BPGMEA. He welcomed the NBR's moves on withdrawal of the barriers, and expected additional 5.0 to 10 per cent growth of the plastic goods industry. "Annual growth of the industry is 15 per cent. It would be a minimum of 20 per cent now," he said. Under the budget for 2007-08 fiscal year, the government made it mandatory to use label on the packets of imported plastic raw materials under bonded facility.