Absence of scrutiny of data-inputs accuracy in government entities results in the downsizing of export earnings and may upset Bangladesh's trade rankings.
Economists call it 'macroeconomic data shock' that might impact trade deficit, country ranking on export, and current-account balance among major economic indices.
On Wednesday, the central bank revised country's export-earnings data downward by over US$ 12 billion until March 2024.
An FE analysis has found differences in definition of 'export' in different laws and policies of the government to define a shipment, with the consequence of confusions.
The newly implemented Customs Act 2023, with effect from June 6, 2024, does not have any definition on what to be considered export.
In the VAT and Supplementary Duty Act 2019, export means both overseas and in-country export (in Export Processing Zone).
And only overseas shipment is considered export in the Export Policy Order of the Ministry of Commerce.
Officials have said the export value has shrunk following reconciliation of National Board of Revenue (NBR) data at customs point.
Double counting of export data in customs points has been seen as one of the major reasons by some customs officials, due to absence of auditing system of Asycuda World.
However, State Minister for Ministry of Commerce Ahsanul Islam Titu has admitted Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) responsibility to crosscheck authenticity of export data before publishing.
"We will start a project to maintain data accuracy by ensuring access to the automated system," he told the FE correspondent.
However, in a meeting on June 26 at Bangladesh Bank, the NBR claimed BB and EPB used different Customs Procedure Codes (CPC) to compile export data that resulted in mismatch.
A senior customs official says the Asycuda World system is maintaining the export-import data as a key source.
He, however, mentions that the system, launched in 1993, has never gone through any audit so far to check intentional or unintentional data inputs by any in the customs stations.
"Such reluctance has emerged as macroeconomic-data mismatch, causing double or multiple counting of export shipments showing an inflated data on country's export," he adds.
The official points out that intra-country export is considered export in the VAT act and it requires submitting Bill of Export.
It has also been added in the export data which the central bank is not willing to accept as export, said the official about the differences in export matrix.
The State Minister for Commerce, however, supported the export to EPZ using foreign currency to check sourcing of raw materials to other countries.
BSRM group of Companies chairman Alihussain Akberali says the deemed export is considered export for the sake of country's foreign- exchange reserves.
"There was confusion over deemed export which has been cleared in recent years," he adds.
Officials have said despite having nine codes in customs to give inputs of export goods, most customs officials in different ports are assessing export goods under one code.
According to the model of declaration in the Asycuda world, EX 1 code is used for export-data inputs followed by EX2 for temporary export, EX3 for Re-export, Ex8 for transit to export and EX9 for other export procedures.
However, customs officials in the different stations are giving inputs only on EX1 irrespective of different modes of export.
For not having any scope of system audit, such flaws remained unidentified and resulted in bloated data of export, they added.
A senior customs official says the reasons for double counting of export data include considering deemed export to EPZ entities as export, considering re-export or ship-back as export.
Also, the customs consider sales of 10-percent manufactured goods from EPZ to local tariff area, dual export-import process, temporary or permanent bond transfer of raw materials and machinery in EPZ, import of raw materials from Domestic Tariff Area (DTA) to EPZ by EPZ industries, and import of construction materials from DTA as export.
"Now time has come to discontinue the malpractice of the process of dual bill of export and bill of import at the same time for the same consignment," he says.
The customs need to create separate mode of export for non-bond export, deemed export, sample and other exports in Asycuda system, he adds.
Double entry, wrong entry or flaws in data management, intentionally or unintentionally, by customs officials may result in huge revenue loss to the public exchequer, he alerts.
The customs official has underscored the necessity of 'system audit' to check such irregularities and mismatch in data.
Distinguished Fellow of the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) Professor Mustafizur Rahman thinks such data shift would impact the country's macroeconomic data and also data on country's industrial production capacity.
"The global ranking of Bangladesh on export performances, based on country's data, may also slip due to such data errors," he says.
Bangladesh set a target of US$62 billion worth of merchandise export for FY 24.
The NBR officials said the multiple-entry data remained in the export figure of EPB for FY 2022-23.
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