Goods sent by expatriate Bangladeshis have been piling up in the customs houses at the country's ports of entry as perceived ambiguities in the baggage rules block their passage.
Official sources said the situation came to such a pass that the National Board of Revenue (NBR) had to issue an instruction for the customs authorities to resolve the complexities forthwith clearing the way for release of the piled-up parcels.
The suspicion that commercial luggage might have been sent under names of the expatriates is largely responsible for piling up of the packages, the sources said.
A slew of goods and baggage remained stacked at different airports, seaports and land-ports, occupying vast spaces, as the authorities cannot release those under the existing baggage rules.
To end the impasse, the government's revenue authority sent the directive to the customs houses in Dhaka, Chittagong, the Inland Container Depot (ICD) at Kamalapur, and the customs, excise and VAT commissionerate in Sylhet.
According to the NBR orders, relatives, including parents, siblings, spouse and sons/daughters can take delivery of the goods or baggage upon showing attested copies of passport, document as proofs that the expatriate concerned is employed abroad. Customs officials will verify the documents and give approval for release of the goods following a prescribed procedure.
Customs will allow release of goods under the baggage rules in case of old clothes/dresses that fall under the category of 'bona- fide baggage'.
For goods that do not fall under the baggage rules, the products will be examined in the presence of an assistant commissioner-level customs official.
"At least 40 per cent penal tax and other taxes will be collected from the consignee. Joint commissioner-level customs officials will conduct valuation and determine HS code of the goods," says the instruction.
However, in case of food items, the import policy should apply to the release of the goods. Otherwise, the items will be confiscated by the state.
The NBR issued the instructions for resolving problems and complexities over release of the stuck-up goods in the customs houses. "The instruction should not be shown as precedent in future," its letter reads.
Expatriate Bangladeshis usually bring in theirs and other expatriates' goods that the customs officials release as per law. But, the customs officials have found some organizations sending goods in the name of passport-holding passengers, like courier services. They are taking money from the expatriates for the service.
According to an investigation by Chittagong customs house, those organizations have their local agents but do not have any licence from government agencies.
Those agents are claiming themselves as clearing and forwarding (C&F) agents but most of them do not have legal C&F licence or government permit. Also, many of those baggages do not have any luggage of the passengers although those have been imported in the name of the passengers.
In some cases, passengers were not informed about import of the baggage in their name.
To resolve the complexities, the NBR has issued the instructions so that customs houses can release the stuck-up goods following the guidelines.
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