New customs law unlikely to come into force from next FY

The new customs law is unlikely to come into force from the fiscal year (FY) 2018-19 as the National Board of Revenue (NBR) has yet to complete the process of placing the act before parliament.
Officials said the law ministry has not yet given its seal of approval to the draft customs act for placing it before the cabinet for vetting.
They said the customs wing is still continuing its all-out efforts to complete all the procedures for placing the act in the parliament budget session for FY 2018-19.
However, they have found it difficult to complete the entire task within June 7, 2018.
"We first need to obtain approval from the law ministry. Then the draft act would be placed before the cabinet for its approval," said a senior customs official.
After getting approval from the cabinet, the NBR would be able to place the draft act before parliament for nod of the lawmakers, he added.
The government earlier announced its decision to introduce new customs law from the upcoming fiscal year, replacing the existing one, framed in 1969.
The customs officials said the customs law needs to be drafted in English with its main draft in Bangla as international traders follow the law to do business with Bangladesh.
Following instructions of the Prime Minister, the NBR drafted the new customs act in Bangla. It is yet to start drafting the new act in English.
Another NBR official said the government has adopted a go-slow policy to implement the new law in the election year.
"Although no significant changes would be brought about to the new customs law, it may not come into force in the FY 2018-19," the official said.
Earlier, the government planned to implement both customs and income tax laws from the FY 2018-19. But later, it backtracked from its move, adopting a go-slow policy.
The official said a set of international provisions would be incorporated in the new customs law including Authorised Economic Operator (AEO) and National Enquiry Point.
The new law will accommodate the trade facilitation provisions of the World Customs Organisation (WCO), revised Kyoto Convention and the World Trade Organisation (WTO) Trade Facilitation Agreement.
Release of goods from the customs stations will be expedited after implementing the new customs law with advanced provisions. The new customs law will help reduce the cost of doing business. Automated customs process will focus on risk management module, advance cargo declaration, simplified process of export and import declarations and customs valuation.
In September 2014, the cabinet approved in principle a draft of new customs act by giving some observations.
Customs officials said the draft was amended to incorporate suggestions of the cabinet and other stakeholders to make the new law business-friendly.

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