The customs authority is set to introduce an Automated Risk Management System (ARMS) next month in a bid to address the long-standing allegations of unnecessary harassment in the selection of import consignments for physical inspection at ports.
The AI-powered ARMS, scheduled to be launched under the National Single Window (NSW), is expected to be a game-changer for customs clearance at the Chattogram Port by reducing human intervention in cargo inspection.
The World Bank-supported NSW project, launched in 2017, is scheduled to end in December 2026 after an eight-year journey to automate customs procedures and streamline trade facilitation.
Jewel Ahmed, Project Director at the NSW, said the system has already proven successful by enabling businesses to obtain certificates, licences and permits (CLPs) in less than a day-a process that was previously lengthy and cumbersome.
With the introduction of ARMS, container dwell time is expected to be cut by nearly half, significantly improving the ease of doing business and facilitating international trade, he said.
According to the 2023 Container Port Performance Index, Chattogram Port ranked 348th position among 405 ports worldwide.
A 2022 Customs Time Release Study found that customs clearance in Bangladesh required an average of 11 days.
Although container dwell time has since declined to around six to eight days, it still lags behind regional competitors such as Colombo and Ho Chi Minh City, where cargo clearance generally takes only two to three days.
Abdur Razzaque, Chairman of the Research and Policy Integration for Development (RAPID), said in a recent paper on Bangladesh's export competitiveness that logistics delays are not merely an infrastructure issue but it is a major competitive disadvantage for exporters.
"Every extra day at the port raises uncertainty, weakens buyers' confidence and reduces Bangladesh's ability to respond quickly to export orders," he said.
Manual processes and fragmented data systems prolong customs clearance and increase transaction costs, he noted.
Despite the introduction of the Bangladesh Single Window and the Authorised Economic Operator (AEO) scheme, trade facilitation reforms have yet to deliver sufficient improvements, he added.
He also pointed out that longer container dwell time and slower customs clearance undermine the reliability of Bangladesh's time-sensitive exports.
At present, customs officials select import consignments for physical examination largely on a random basis. Under ARMS, however, an AI-driven machine learning system will determine which containers require inspection based on traders' compliance history, risk profiles and other parameters.
The machine learning system was originally scheduled to be launched on May 11. However, its implementation was delayed due to technical upgrades required by the World Bank and other stakeholders, Mr Ahmed said.
Once the ARMS is operational, customs officials will no longer manually select containers for inspection, which will reduce discretionary intervention and lessen unnecessary harassment of compliant traders, he added.
The government signed the financing agreement with the World Bank in 2017. Upon completion of the project later this year, the government will take over its operation and management.
As of Tuesday, around 1.3 million certificates, licences and permits (CLPs) had been issued through the NSW platform. Of them, about 85 per cent were issued within one hour, while 95 per cent were processed in less than one day.
Businesses no longer need to visit agencies such as Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institution (BSTI), Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (BIDA) or Directorate General of Drug Administration (DGDA) to obtain clearance documents for customs purposes, Mr Ahmed said.
"Businesses can now apply online, make payments electronically and obtain the required permits from anywhere in the world," he added.
Nusrat Nahid Babi, a Senior Transport Specialist at the World Bank (WB) said Bangladesh has set a target to facilitate 60 percent clearance through green channels. Automated Risk Management System (ARMS) is the key to achieving this target.
ARMS is a business intelligence tool, the more information it gets, the more accurate analysis it can produce to assess risky consignments, it was learnt.
For effective functioning of ARMS, it needs full integration with Asycuda and other related back-office digital solutions.
ARMS is the first step to coordinated border management. It will work hand-in-hand with Bangladesh Single Window and it would be important for all border clearance agencies to share data with ARMS to produce robust risk assessment reports and facilitate trade.
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