Freight forwarders finally issued provisional licences

FE Team | Published: September 02, 2008 00:00:00 | Updated: February 01, 2018 00:00:00

Syed Ishtiaque Reza brDhaka Customs House finally issued provisional licences to major multinational freight forwarding companies on Sunday.brThe licences were given following a meeting at the National Board of Revenue (NBR) between a group of representatives of Foreign Investors Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the NBR officials. brThe freight forwarders were given August 31 as the deadline for obtaining the licence.brThe meeting was specially arranged following reports published in the FE that the foreign freight forwarders were being deprived of licences because of a dilemma over a Statutory Regulatory Order (SRO) of the NBR. brThe SRO issued in January this year asked them to get approval from either the Bangladesh Bank (BB) or the Board of Investment (BOI) for the registration and setting up of company in Bangladesh. But both the authorities said the multinational and joint venture freight forwarders do not require such approval.brThe fully foreign owned and joint venture freight forwarders, however, gave undertaking that they would fulfill the SRO clause until its amendment. brJust before the expiry of the deadline we have got the licences. This has prevented any disruption in running our operations, said the CEO of foreign owned company. brBut the important thing is that the SRO must be amended and we should be given the regular licence as soon as possible, he added.br