Stuck-up imported cars at ports

It is a clear case of double whammy. The Chittagong Customs House (CCH) is unable to auction nearly 900 motor vehicles. Those vehicles have remained stranded and are getting damaged due to the failure of the importers concerned to take their delivery on time. The stuck-up cars are causing congestion at the Chittagong port and also loss of revenue to the government. The worse part is that the customs is very frequently dragged to higher courts by the importers when the authorities concerned go for putting the motor vehicles in question up for auction. Writ petitions are filed by the latter to stop the CCH from holding such auctions.  
Thus, the CCH, according to a report published in this paper last Monday, could auction only 60 vehicles during the last five years; several hundreds of the same kind of vehicles are getting damaged at the port yard. The importers concerned for reasons best known to them could not take delivery of the motor vehicles from the port before the vehicles became age-barred. These are usually the reconditioned vehicles. Even if an importer comes forward to take delivery after paying all the dues to the port authority and the CCH, rules stand in the way. Cars that are, according to the existing government rules, older than five years from the year of their production, are barred from entering the country. The customs is required to take permission from the ministry of commerce for releasing such age-barred cars.
So, the customs is left with one option: auction of the age-barred cars. But the importers concerned rush, in most cases, to higher courts, file writs and get stay orders. The disposal of such writs takes years. But the cars, imported at the cost of the country’s hard-earned foreign exchange, get damaged at the ports in the course of this time-consuming process. There could be questions about the logic behind the refusal on the part of the customs to release the vehicles on the ground of being age-barred. The buyers of cars that are put up for auction would naturally not keep their vehicles idle for this ‘ageing’ factor. Rather, they are often found to drive the same on roads and highways at ease. The importers, who maybe, for some difficulties -- financial or otherwise -- could not get their vehicles released on time, should also get a fair chance.
However, relaxation of restrictions on releasing the legally age-barred vehicles might lead to even far greater problems. Many importers may feel encouraged by such precedence and leave their vehicles at the port for longer periods and, thus, contribute further to congestion at the port. Yet some ways need to be devised to address all the relevant issues and help importers who at times fail to take delivery of vehicles on time for genuine reasons. The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) has reportedly asked the customs authorities recently to release stranded cars after taking permission from the ministry of commerce and hold auctions, at least, once a month to help make the Chittagong port congestion-free.
The problem of writ-filing, however, will be overshadowing such auctions. So, the government should hold talks with the leaders of Bangladesh Reconditioned Vehicles Importers and Dealers Association (BARVIDA) and persuade them to advise their members not to rush to courts. Such a litigation process involves wastage of both time and money on the part of the government and the importers concerned. All the parties do also need to take into cognisance the loss of valuable foreign exchange that is caused by the damage of so many imported motor vehicles.