Freight forwarders to charge 67pc more on imported goods from Jan
Thursday, 24 December 2009
Jasim Uddin Haroon
The country's freight forwarders Wednesday said they will charge 67 per cent more on imported goods from the first day of the next year to offset their operational losses.
The new tariff per consignment will be Tk 2,500 against existing Tk 1,500.
But, the freight forwarders said they would not increase charges on shipments for export.
"We will enforce the new tariff from January 1 as the existing charges are hardly enough to sustain our business," Syed Badrul Hoque, president of International Freight Forwarders Association of Bangladesh (IFFAB) told the FE.
However, importers, especially of essential items and garment manufacturers, said that the new tariff would adversely impact their businesses.
Freight forwarders said they wanted to raise the charges last July, but the then shipping minister, Dr Afsarul Ameen, had requested them not to do so apprehending negative impact on trade amid the global economic meltdown.
"After realising our plight, Dr Ameen urged us to enhance the charges few months later," Mr Badrul added.
Sources said the immediate past caretaker government fixed the charges at Tk 1,500 on each consignment, as the forwarders earlier imposed charges at will.
Sources claimed that more than 100 freight forwarders had closed down their operations following the fixation of Tk 1,500 as charge.
A freight forwarder or often just forwarder is a third- party logistics provider. A forwarder dispatches shipments via asset-based carriers and books or otherwise arranges space for those shipments.
Bangladesh has over 800 freight forwarders disatching cargoes to international destinations mianly in containers.
They have the expertise that allows them to prepare and process the documentations and perform related activities pertaining to international shipments.
"We are losing fast our export orders following global recession. This fresh hike will make garment raw materials costly," Abdus Salam Murshedy BGMEA president told the FE.
Md Abul Bashar, chariman of Masud and Brothers and a leading essential item importer, said that such sharp hike of charges will raise the prices of essentials in the local market.
The country's freight forwarders Wednesday said they will charge 67 per cent more on imported goods from the first day of the next year to offset their operational losses.
The new tariff per consignment will be Tk 2,500 against existing Tk 1,500.
But, the freight forwarders said they would not increase charges on shipments for export.
"We will enforce the new tariff from January 1 as the existing charges are hardly enough to sustain our business," Syed Badrul Hoque, president of International Freight Forwarders Association of Bangladesh (IFFAB) told the FE.
However, importers, especially of essential items and garment manufacturers, said that the new tariff would adversely impact their businesses.
Freight forwarders said they wanted to raise the charges last July, but the then shipping minister, Dr Afsarul Ameen, had requested them not to do so apprehending negative impact on trade amid the global economic meltdown.
"After realising our plight, Dr Ameen urged us to enhance the charges few months later," Mr Badrul added.
Sources said the immediate past caretaker government fixed the charges at Tk 1,500 on each consignment, as the forwarders earlier imposed charges at will.
Sources claimed that more than 100 freight forwarders had closed down their operations following the fixation of Tk 1,500 as charge.
A freight forwarder or often just forwarder is a third- party logistics provider. A forwarder dispatches shipments via asset-based carriers and books or otherwise arranges space for those shipments.
Bangladesh has over 800 freight forwarders disatching cargoes to international destinations mianly in containers.
They have the expertise that allows them to prepare and process the documentations and perform related activities pertaining to international shipments.
"We are losing fast our export orders following global recession. This fresh hike will make garment raw materials costly," Abdus Salam Murshedy BGMEA president told the FE.
Md Abul Bashar, chariman of Masud and Brothers and a leading essential item importer, said that such sharp hike of charges will raise the prices of essentials in the local market.