NBR strengthens monitoring to detect PSI bypassing

FE Team | Published: November 10, 2007 00:00:00 | Updated: February 01, 2018 00:00:00

Doulot Akter Mala
The National Board of Revenue (NBR) has been intensifying its monitoring to prevent entry of imported products without pre-shipment inspection (PSI), sources said.
They said the NBR has information about a number of products being imported without the PSI.
The customs department of the board recently sent letters to all of its customs houses to look for those products.
The government has made it mandatory for importers to take clean reports of finding (CRF) certificates from the four PSI companies.
The importers should take CRF certificates for all commodities excepting perishable items, zero-rated goods, government imports, donor grant commodities, relief materials.
The board has asked the customs houses to give monthly lists of the products imported without PSI, sources said.
The sources believe that some of the consumers' goods such as dress materials and shoes are often imported without PSI, but there is no specific data on those products.
They said the customs houses should prepare lists of such non-PSI products for necessary action.
The NBR has the authority to charge penalty to the importers for bringing products without PSI, a revenue official said.
The importers will have to pay a minimum 10 per cent of its import value as penalty for non-compliance with government rules, he added.
As per the existing rules, all importers have to pay a PSI fee for imported consignments as service charge.
The amount is 1.0 per cent of the total value of the imported products.
If any product, which is required to have mandatory PSI, enters the country without the inspection, a 1.0 per cent charge will have to be deposited in government's coffer.
Revenue officials said PSI is necessary for determining the value of the export goods and prevent entry of the substandard goods.
The importer is responsible for arranging the pre-shipment inspection, while the exporter must make the goods available for inspection in the country of origin.
The government introduced the PSI system in 1994, which required voluntary inspection in line with the business communities suggestion
Later, the government introduced mandatory PSI scheme in 2002.
The PSI companies were authorised to issue CRFs certifying the value, HS code, quality, quantity and importability of the goods.
The four PSI companies -- Cotecna Inspection SA, Intertech Testing Limited, SGS (Bangladesh) and Bureau Veritas Bivac (Bangladesh) Limited -- have been working in five blocks since 2005.
The contracts will expire in June 2008.
Meanwhile, the NBR is expediting its move to appoint an international audit firm to scrutinise the PSI certified products for detecting under-valuation and over-valuation of products.