BTMA for tough NBR measures to thwart duty evasion on yarn import

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FE Report
Bangladesh Textile Mills Association (BTMA) Sunday urged the revenue board to strengthen checking point at Benapole land port to thwart duty evasion in yarn import fearing its adverse effect on local industry.
The association has hailed the government's recent decision to open up the port for yarn import to mitigate present scarcity of the prime raw material of textiles.
BTMA President Abdul Hai Sarker said the government must strengthen monitoring on import of yarn through the port.
"Yarn should be imported after paying all duty taxes; otherwise local yarn industry will face uneven competition for entrance of cheap yarn," he said.
The association held a meeting with the National Board of Revenue (NBR) Sunday to recommend measures to thwart duty evasion on import of yarn.
"We have suggested the NBR to form a high-powered committee under public-private partnership to monitor import of yarn," the BTMA president said.
The revenue board has assured the association leaders that the government has opened up the port for import of yarn on temporary basis for the next three months, he said.
The move will help the country's industry to mitigate present scarcity of yarn, he said.
The NBR last Friday issued a statutory regulatory order (SRO) to open up Benapole port for import of yarn in a face of weavers' threat of strike.
The board has allowed 'actual weavers', specially the members of the weavers' samity, to import yarn from India.
Weavers have long been demanding the permission due to volatility in prices of yarn in the domestic market. Commercial import of yarn remained banned since mid-1990s.
Yarn production capacity of local textile mills has declined to 800 million kg from 1600 million kg annually due to acute gas and power shortage.