Shamsul Huq Zahid
Before the bewildered (?) eyes of Customs officials at the Chittagong Port last Monday afternoon, two brand new luxury cars-a BMW and an Audi--- came out of a 40ft container that was supposed to carry 19.8 metric tonnes of yarn. Surprise, surprise!
Besides the vehicles, valued at over Tk.35 million, duty and other taxes included, the container, reportedly, was stuffed with a good number of LCD and LED televisions and photocopiers valued at about Tk. 15 million.
An export-oriented unit, named, Gold Tex Limited, of Savar Export Processing Zone imported those items from Singapore against an import LC for yarn. The scanning machine located at the Chittagong Container Terminal gate no.02 detected the presence of vehicles inside the container and the Customs decided to conduct manual inspection.
The importer concerned and his clearing and forwarding (C&F) agent were asked to remain present during the physical examination last Monday. As expected, the importer and his C&F agent preferred to melt into thin air. Investigation might reveal that the name and address used by the importer concerned were entirely false.
The incidents of import of luxury goods through dubious declarations are nothing new. Some get caught and some do not. But the import of two big luxury cars, concealed inside a container, by any means is an unprecedented and daring act. Customs in the past had detected import of electronics and electrical and some other goods through false declarations. Importers usually take recourse to such imports to avoid high duty rates.
Circles concerned suspect that import of contraband and luxury items through false declaration is more or less a routine event. And a section of unscrupulous Customs officials, allegedly, work hand in glove with the importers of their kind.
Customs officials might take exception to this kind of observation; yet they are unlikely to lodge any protest because of the fact they themselves are aware that not all those working in the department are clean. Besides, the public perception about Customs people, rightly or wrongly, runs parallel to that about officials working in land and law order maintenance departments where the members of the public are made to pay bribes frequently.
In fact, no data about annual duty evasion at Customs points is available. But the lifestyle of the Customs officials, both in-service and retired, does suggest that the rate of evasion is quite high. Moreover, the properties that some Customs officials own, mainly through 'benami' ownership, are substantial.
The Customs authorities at the Chittagong Customs House have already formed a three-member committee to probe into the unauthorized import of luxury vehicles through false declaration. But the incident, being an unprecedented one, does deserve a thorough probe by people outside the Customs department. A broad-based term of reverence (ToR) of such a probe body, if formed at all, might even help reveal something startling. It needs to be seen whether all necessary checks were carried on the container prior to its reaching the Customs scanner and who were the officials responsible for carrying out the processes involved in it.
It is hard to believe that importer concerned had taken such a large stake without any kind of understanding with anyone welding authority, within or outside the Customs. The government must take up the issue very seriously. Otherwise, someday something sinister might easily enter the country through formal channel with the government knowing nothing about it.
The news of about the detection of import of luxury cars through false declaration was published on Tuesday's newspapers that also carried a speech by the finance minister listing the high inflation as a serious challenge. And the government's high bank borrowing is one of the factors that have been contributing to the soaring inflation. The government would not have required to borrow from banks extensively had it earned enough of tax revenues.
There is no denying that earning from income tax in recent years has increased sizably though it has remained well below the potential amount. But the earning from Customs has more or less stagnated. The lowering of duty rates under trade liberalisation effort is blamed. But given the increase in volume of import in recent years, the earning should have been much higher. It seems, there exist many points of leakage in revenue earning from imports and those need to be plugged as far as practicable.
Zahidmar10@gmail.com
BMW, Audi inside 40ft container!
Shamsul Huq Zahid | Published: December 21, 2011 00:00:00 | Updated: February 01, 2018 00:00:00
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