EPB seeks online access to NBR database
Sunday, 1 May 2011
Doulot Akter Mala
The Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) and the National Board of Revenue (NBR) are likely to establish interconnectivity to check abuse of the Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) facility, offered by the European Union, through fraudulent practices. The relevant departments of the government are considering the option as an effective tool to thwart abuse of the GSP facility, officials said. The EPB recently sought access to the online database of the revenue board to verify the use of GSP facility as some exporters are, allegedly, taking GSP certificates by showing false documents of export. The bureau, in a letter to the NBR, urged it to allow access of the EPB to the online database of customs departments. The anti-fraud office (OLAF) of the European Union (EU) had earlier found that some businessmen who obtained GSP certificates from the EPB are not exporters at all. "The OLAF team has identified the abuse of the facility scrutinising the information of the NBR database at the time of verification of authenticity and validity of the GSP certificates," the EPB letter said. The OLAF, in 2009, had instantly declared the GSP certificates invalid for some companies, it added. "Such incidents may leave a negative effect on our export earnings and tarnish the country's image in one the largest export destination," it said. Talking to the FE, EPB Vice-Chairman Jalal Ahmed said: "The EPB can do its job more efficiently if the NBR allows it to have access to the online database of customs." All data compilation and monitoring will be completed in time with the technical hook-up with the NBR, he added. Export data compilation will be expedited with the information sharing among the entities, he said. "We are getting information on the export of major items under a manual system which can be digitised by providing access to the online database of customs," he said. NBR Member Farid Uddin, who heads the Customs and VAT Administration, said the online database of the NBR is yet to take the final shape. The GSP is a trade arrangement through which the EU provides preferential access to its market to 176 developing countries and territories, in the form of reduced tariffs for their goods.
The Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) and the National Board of Revenue (NBR) are likely to establish interconnectivity to check abuse of the Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) facility, offered by the European Union, through fraudulent practices. The relevant departments of the government are considering the option as an effective tool to thwart abuse of the GSP facility, officials said. The EPB recently sought access to the online database of the revenue board to verify the use of GSP facility as some exporters are, allegedly, taking GSP certificates by showing false documents of export. The bureau, in a letter to the NBR, urged it to allow access of the EPB to the online database of customs departments. The anti-fraud office (OLAF) of the European Union (EU) had earlier found that some businessmen who obtained GSP certificates from the EPB are not exporters at all. "The OLAF team has identified the abuse of the facility scrutinising the information of the NBR database at the time of verification of authenticity and validity of the GSP certificates," the EPB letter said. The OLAF, in 2009, had instantly declared the GSP certificates invalid for some companies, it added. "Such incidents may leave a negative effect on our export earnings and tarnish the country's image in one the largest export destination," it said. Talking to the FE, EPB Vice-Chairman Jalal Ahmed said: "The EPB can do its job more efficiently if the NBR allows it to have access to the online database of customs." All data compilation and monitoring will be completed in time with the technical hook-up with the NBR, he added. Export data compilation will be expedited with the information sharing among the entities, he said. "We are getting information on the export of major items under a manual system which can be digitised by providing access to the online database of customs," he said. NBR Member Farid Uddin, who heads the Customs and VAT Administration, said the online database of the NBR is yet to take the final shape. The GSP is a trade arrangement through which the EU provides preferential access to its market to 176 developing countries and territories, in the form of reduced tariffs for their goods.