NBR to decide fate of a PSI co by Dec

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The National Board of Revenue (NBR) appears to decide the fate of Pre-Shipment Inspection (PSI) company M/S Cotecna Inspection SA by December next as it is facing various allegations, particularly in inspection of Sports Utility Vehicles (SUVs).
"There are nine allegations against it and the procedure to look into one is almost complete. I do hope that the procedure for the other eight allegations will be completed soon and we'll be able to take a decision about the company by December," NBR Member (Customs) Rashidul Ahsan Chowdhury told UNB.
Responding to a query, he said the actions against the company might be cancellation of its PSI certificate or huge fine or both.
"It depends on the type of offences. If we find serious irregularities, we must recommend the government to cancel its PSI certificate, there is no doubt about it," he said.
The NBR recently found Cotecna Inspection SA involved in serious irregularities in import goods' inspections, particularly in SUVs like Hummer seized from high-profile corrupt suspects.
It found that duty worth Tk 2.3 million was evaded on car imports alone due to inspection irregularities by the PSI company.
In one case, the NBR found wrong price certification in clean report of findings (CRF) as the company quoted US$ 18,500 instead of $35,215 as original price of the Hummer 3.
Official sources said the NBR has served a notice to the company seeking explanation of its alleged under-invoicing in the import of luxury cars and held a hearing on it.
Besides, Chittagong Customs has detected around 550 cases of irregularities in import of industrial raw materials, chemicals and industrial goods by Cotecna.
The report said Cotecna changed the harmonized coding system of import items to help importers evade customs duties.
Chittagong Customs detected 314 cases of under-valuation and price manipulation by the company in imports from China and 81 cases from the Philippines.
Sources said Cotecna issued clean report of findings against 110 import consignments that showed less quantity, depriving the government of about Tk 140 million.
The previous BNP-led 4-party alliance government appointed four PSI companies-Cotecna Inspection SA, SGS (Bangladesh) Limited, Bureau Veritas BIVAC (Bangladesh) Limited and Intertek Testing Limited-in August 2005 for three years for certifying price, quality and quantity of imported goods.