The four-day-old strike called by clearing and forwarding agents at Kamalapur Inland Container Depot (ICD) in the city was withdrawn Wednesday afternoon following assurance of meeting their demands by the customs authorities.
In an attempt to break the deadlock at the key installation, the National Board of Revenue (NBR) sat with the strikers and the leaders of Dhaka Customs C&F Agents Association at its headquarters in the city Wednesday.
Dhaka C&F Agents Association president Farid Uddin Ahmed told the FE: "The customs authorities met our demands at the meeting held at the National Board of Revenue on Wednesday."
"Following their assurance, we've withdrawn our strike," he said.
He said the customs officials would not inspect all cargoes at the depot, and they would inspect those as they did earlier.
The C&F agents called the strike on Sunday last after the customs house had tightened measures for inspection of consignments in a bid to stop tax evasion.
NBR member (Customs policy, statistics and research) Mohammad Farid Uddin led the NBR side, while Farid Uddin sat for the strikers at the meeting.
However, the delivery of imported goods began at 4:00pm on Wednesday.
The customs and other offices concerned were kept open until 6:00 pm on the day to facilitate delivery.
Around 300 containers remained stuck at the depot following the strike that affected the consignees adversely.
The C&F agents alleged 'harassment' by the commissioner at the depot, "who demands frequent re-examination of import consignments. The re-inspection costs time and money," they said.
The consignees mainly carry electronics, fruits, industrial raw materials and public as well as goods belonging to the international agencies.
The NBR receives more than Tk 16 billion as revenue from the ICD, which handles over 120 containers a day.
