NBR to verify Cotecna's inspection irregularities

FE Team | Published: September 12, 2007 00:00:00 | Updated: February 01, 2018 00:00:00

Doulot Akter Mala
The National Board of Revenue (NBR) has taken steps to verify the alleged irregularities of pre-shipment inspection (PSI) company M/S Cotecna Inspection SA.
Recently, an investigation team of the government found irregularities of the company relating to import of luxury vehicles.
The customs department of the board has sought Cotecna's performance reports from the commissioners of Dhaka and Chittagong customs houses.
The board recently issued an order seeking field-level opinion regarding the performance of the inspection company.
Sources said the board has the authority to cancel the licence of any PSI company if irregularities are detected.
The NBR has served showcause notice upon Cotecna seeking explanation of its alleged under-invoicing in import of luxurious cars.
The board has served the notice Sunday asking the PSI company to submit its reply to the board by 15 days.
In an investigation, the board has found duty evasion worth Tk 2.3 million in import of the car.
The board has found wrong price certification in clean report of findings (CRF). The PSI company has quoted US$ 18,500 instead of $35,215 as original price of the Hummer 3.
After submission of the reply, the NBR will call the representatives of the PSI Company for hearing.
If the PSI company fails to come up with satisfactory explanation, the NBR will slap heavy penalty for the irregularities.
The board might cancel the agreement with the company after expiry of its agreement in 2008, sources further said.
Earlier, the Anti-corruption Commission (ACC) also requested the board to investigate some irregularities of the Cotecna.
The government has appointed four PSI companies in September 2005 for a three-year tenure (up to 2008) to continue with the provision for compulsory pre-shipment inspection, introduced in 2000.
The companies are Cotecna Inspection SA, SGS (Bangladesh) Limited, Bureau Veritas BIVAC (Bangladesh) Limited and Intertek Testing Limited.
The PSIs were appointed to help the customs department, which lacks sufficient logistic support and skilled manpower, carry out inspection of growing imports, NBR sources said.
The government is also in a process to appoint an international audit firm to scrutinise the prices quoted by the PSI companies with a view to resolving the long-standing problem in import valuation.
The NBR has already floated a tender inviting the international audit firms. The move aims at bringing transparency in the import valuation of the PSIs.
The government has taken the move considering the importers' complaints about harassment and delay in getting their consignments after import valuation by the PSI companies, the sources concerned said.
The audit-firm will scrutinise the valuation of import done by the PSI companies.