BGMEA again points finger at freight forwarders
Tuesday, 14 August 2007
Naim-Ul-Karim
The country's apparel exporters have again brought allegations of charging additional fees and resorting to unethical practices against freight forwarders in absence of proper government monitoring, sources said.
According to the sources, Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), in its letter addressed to National Board of Revenue (NBR) Chairman Md Badiur Rahman on August 12, mentioned that in absence of any freight forwarding licence, the government had no direct control on the freight forwarders and thus failed to check the shipping-related corruption, which was causing losses to the tune of Tk 100 million (10 crore) to the country as a whole every day. This also led to rise in import and export costs.
Besides, the BGMEA letter mentioned, the government was also deprived of an annual revenue worth about Tk 5.0 billion as the freight forwarders had not been brought under the licensing system.
'To avert such a big loss and to put an end to shipping-related corruption in Bangladesh, the NBR should take urgent measures to check unethical practices by the freight forwarding agents and thus help reduce the import cost,' BGMEA director- in-charge for port and shipping AM Mabub Chowdhury said in the letter.
The BGMEA, however, mentioned that earlier the Chittagong Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry, BGMEA, Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association, and Bangladesh Textile Mills Association also requested the NBR to bring the freight forwarding agents under a licensing system.
Every day the importers are required to pay about Tk 3.0 million on about 2,000 import consignments for obtaining the No Objection Certificates (NOC) from the shipping agents, as the freight forwarders have no licence to enter the port directly, it mentioned.
The BGMEA also mentioned, as per ICC, ESCAP and UNCTAD Rules, there is no provision for paying any NOC money.
For ensuring full accountability they also stressed the need for a regular audit team under Bangladesh Bank, by which all foreign exchange including the huge amount of non-repatriated export proceeds could be repatriated," it said.
When asked, Helal Uddin Akber, president of the ad hoc committee of Bangladesh Freight Forwarders Association (BAFA), said the statement of BGMEA regarding charging additional fees and adopting unethical practices is not true at all.
"We took the first initiative in 2000 to bring discipline in the sector through issuing licences, … we have nothing to do if the process is being delayed from the government side," he said.
Regarding NOC, Akbar said they are not at all involved in dealing with NOCs as shipping agents send NOCs to some other parties also.
Sources, however, said the BGMEA brought the above allegations against the freight forwarders after their opposition to some changes in the draft policy, which is required to bring them under the licensing system.
They said the NBR, which was planning to issue a statutory regulatory order (SRO) on the policy in a short time, is now in a dilemma in the face of the opposition by the freight forwarders.
Against this backdrop, an NBR official said, the revenue body chief has called a meeting for August 16 next with all stakeholders including freight forwarders to resolve the issue.
The government in an inter-ministerial meeting last month finalised the draft policy relating to licensing and operation, with some amendments to it, which, according to freight forwarders, contradict the earlier one agreed upon in a tripartite meeting of NBR officials, joint forces and freight forwarders.
The country's apparel exporters have again brought allegations of charging additional fees and resorting to unethical practices against freight forwarders in absence of proper government monitoring, sources said.
According to the sources, Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), in its letter addressed to National Board of Revenue (NBR) Chairman Md Badiur Rahman on August 12, mentioned that in absence of any freight forwarding licence, the government had no direct control on the freight forwarders and thus failed to check the shipping-related corruption, which was causing losses to the tune of Tk 100 million (10 crore) to the country as a whole every day. This also led to rise in import and export costs.
Besides, the BGMEA letter mentioned, the government was also deprived of an annual revenue worth about Tk 5.0 billion as the freight forwarders had not been brought under the licensing system.
'To avert such a big loss and to put an end to shipping-related corruption in Bangladesh, the NBR should take urgent measures to check unethical practices by the freight forwarding agents and thus help reduce the import cost,' BGMEA director- in-charge for port and shipping AM Mabub Chowdhury said in the letter.
The BGMEA, however, mentioned that earlier the Chittagong Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry, BGMEA, Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association, and Bangladesh Textile Mills Association also requested the NBR to bring the freight forwarding agents under a licensing system.
Every day the importers are required to pay about Tk 3.0 million on about 2,000 import consignments for obtaining the No Objection Certificates (NOC) from the shipping agents, as the freight forwarders have no licence to enter the port directly, it mentioned.
The BGMEA also mentioned, as per ICC, ESCAP and UNCTAD Rules, there is no provision for paying any NOC money.
For ensuring full accountability they also stressed the need for a regular audit team under Bangladesh Bank, by which all foreign exchange including the huge amount of non-repatriated export proceeds could be repatriated," it said.
When asked, Helal Uddin Akber, president of the ad hoc committee of Bangladesh Freight Forwarders Association (BAFA), said the statement of BGMEA regarding charging additional fees and adopting unethical practices is not true at all.
"We took the first initiative in 2000 to bring discipline in the sector through issuing licences, … we have nothing to do if the process is being delayed from the government side," he said.
Regarding NOC, Akbar said they are not at all involved in dealing with NOCs as shipping agents send NOCs to some other parties also.
Sources, however, said the BGMEA brought the above allegations against the freight forwarders after their opposition to some changes in the draft policy, which is required to bring them under the licensing system.
They said the NBR, which was planning to issue a statutory regulatory order (SRO) on the policy in a short time, is now in a dilemma in the face of the opposition by the freight forwarders.
Against this backdrop, an NBR official said, the revenue body chief has called a meeting for August 16 next with all stakeholders including freight forwarders to resolve the issue.
The government in an inter-ministerial meeting last month finalised the draft policy relating to licensing and operation, with some amendments to it, which, according to freight forwarders, contradict the earlier one agreed upon in a tripartite meeting of NBR officials, joint forces and freight forwarders.