Freight forwarders raise local service charge
Wednesday, 16 December 2009
Sheikh Shahariar Zaman
Freight forwarders are going to increase the local service charge by Tk 1,000 to the level of Tk 2,500 per bill of lading effective from January 1 amid vehement protest from garment manufacturers.
"We wanted to increase the charge from June 15 last, but on request from the then shipping minister Afsarul Amin, we deferred the date to January 1," Badrul Haque Chowdhury, president of the International Freight Forwarders Association of Bangladesh, told the FE Monday.
The freight forwarders used to charge Tk 2,500 previously but revised it downward two years back. Now they want to revert to the earlier position, he said.
"We are not engaged in any illegal transaction as we follow the domestic and international laws," he added.
The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) has formulated a guideline for the freight forwarders, under which they are allowed to collect the local charge, he explained.
"The ICC guideline, known as Incoterm, allows us to collect charge locally," he added.
Bangladesh is a signatory to the ICC charter and the ICC Bangladesh chapter works here on behalf of the global business organisation, the freight forwarder said.
"We are responsible for all necessary paper work and follow-up of consignments and it is not an easy task," he added.
Mr Badrul said they were also affected by the global recession due to a lower volume of international trade, but they did not seek any support from the government.
"What we want is only to do our business properly," he said.
The business volume is gradually picking up and it is expected that in the January-March period the trade situation will improve, he expressed the hope.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) has drawn the attention of the shipping minister seeking his intervention in this matter and they are in the opinion of raising the charge by Tk 300.
If the charge goes up by Tk 1,000, the processing fee for every bill of lading will increase by 66 per cent, which is too high, said an official of the BGMEA.
"We are already under pressure due to the global recession and it will add salt to injury, if the charge is revised upward drastically," he said.
About 2,500 bills of lading are processed everyday by the freight forwarders and if they charge Tk 1,000 more for each document, an additional Tk 730 million will be spent by the importers a year, he explained.
The official alleged the freight forwarders charge the local manufacturers illegally as they are only entitled to commission from their principals abroad.
"According to the central bank rules and guidelines, freight forwarders can get only commission from their foreign principals," he said.
A senior official of Bangladesh Bank said according to the 18(A) clause of the Foreign Exchange Regulations Act, freight forwarders will get a certain amount of commission for working on behalf of foreign principals.
Freight forwarders are going to increase the local service charge by Tk 1,000 to the level of Tk 2,500 per bill of lading effective from January 1 amid vehement protest from garment manufacturers.
"We wanted to increase the charge from June 15 last, but on request from the then shipping minister Afsarul Amin, we deferred the date to January 1," Badrul Haque Chowdhury, president of the International Freight Forwarders Association of Bangladesh, told the FE Monday.
The freight forwarders used to charge Tk 2,500 previously but revised it downward two years back. Now they want to revert to the earlier position, he said.
"We are not engaged in any illegal transaction as we follow the domestic and international laws," he added.
The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) has formulated a guideline for the freight forwarders, under which they are allowed to collect the local charge, he explained.
"The ICC guideline, known as Incoterm, allows us to collect charge locally," he added.
Bangladesh is a signatory to the ICC charter and the ICC Bangladesh chapter works here on behalf of the global business organisation, the freight forwarder said.
"We are responsible for all necessary paper work and follow-up of consignments and it is not an easy task," he added.
Mr Badrul said they were also affected by the global recession due to a lower volume of international trade, but they did not seek any support from the government.
"What we want is only to do our business properly," he said.
The business volume is gradually picking up and it is expected that in the January-March period the trade situation will improve, he expressed the hope.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) has drawn the attention of the shipping minister seeking his intervention in this matter and they are in the opinion of raising the charge by Tk 300.
If the charge goes up by Tk 1,000, the processing fee for every bill of lading will increase by 66 per cent, which is too high, said an official of the BGMEA.
"We are already under pressure due to the global recession and it will add salt to injury, if the charge is revised upward drastically," he said.
About 2,500 bills of lading are processed everyday by the freight forwarders and if they charge Tk 1,000 more for each document, an additional Tk 730 million will be spent by the importers a year, he explained.
The official alleged the freight forwarders charge the local manufacturers illegally as they are only entitled to commission from their principals abroad.
"According to the central bank rules and guidelines, freight forwarders can get only commission from their foreign principals," he said.
A senior official of Bangladesh Bank said according to the 18(A) clause of the Foreign Exchange Regulations Act, freight forwarders will get a certain amount of commission for working on behalf of foreign principals.