Businesses have demanded waiver of detention charges of shipping lines for the containers, stuck up in customs ports during the general holiday due to Covid-19 pandemic.
Importers said they cannot release products from ports due to shortage of labour and transportation during the ongoing lockdown.
Also, the government is not allowing them to release commercial and finished goods from customs ports during the general holiday, extended until April 25.
The Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) recently requested the Bangladesh Shipping Agents' Association (BSAA) to waive the shipping agents fee due to Covid-19.
In a letter to the BSAA president, the FBCCI Secretary Shah Abdul Khaleque said the importers cannot release their products from ports in this situation.
The Ministry of Shipping has already exempted port demurrage charge or store rent for the importers considering the situation, he wrote in the letter.
The apex chamber requested the BSAA to discuss exemption of shipping charges with the shipping lines, known as principals, in the present Covid-19 situation.
The BSAA President Ahsanul Haq said the shipping lines allow 14-21 days to the importers to release their goods from ports without any detention to ensure timely release of goods.
"Waiving the detention charge is not in our hand, because we work as agents of the foreign shipping lines."
The application for exemption or reduction of charge was directly submitted to the respective shipping line by the importer concerned or consignee.
The agents also conveyed the request for reconsidering the charge to the principal companies, he also said.
"There is no possibility to waive the charges in a wholesale scale. The shipping lines are also bleeding, as each of their ships is facing 10-15 days' delay in outer anchorage."
The shipping lines have to incur $10,000-$15,000 demurrage each day for the delay, the BSAA president noted.
The shipping agents have to pay port charge, VAT, tax and other fees from their earning.
The agents will move further, if they receive any request from the ministry to reduce the fees, he added.
M Shahabuddin Chowdhury, President of MS Pipe and Fitting Importers Association, said imposing container charge by the shipping agents is a burden for them. Some 150-200 containers of this sector have remained stuck in ports.
Although the government has waived store rent during the Covid-19 outbreak, charges of the shipping lines have remained the same, he further said.
Currently, the government is not allowing release of any commercial and finished goods from customs ports.
"The shipping lines allow the importers to release products from ports within 14 days without paying any detention. But in this situation, maintaining the deadline is not possible for the importers," he added.
Solaiman Parsee Faisal of Multi-trade Bangladesh said his shipping line in Singapore has extended the time of releasing goods without detention from 14 days to 21 days, considering the present situation.
The company also assured them of considering further reduction (of charges), if the situation remains the same, he added.
Habib Rahman, a fruit importer, said charges of the shipping agents are much higher than the store rent that the government has recently waived.
"I am incurring loss worth Tk 500-600 per carton (18-20 kg)."
He also sought the government's intervention or steps for waiving or reducing the shipping charges.
General Secretary of Customs Clearing and Forwarding (C&F) Agents Association Altaf Hossain Bachchu said many industries are closed during the lockdown, so they cannot release products.
In this situation, detention fee of the shipping lines should be waived, he opined.
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