NBR imposes guarantee on transit goods

The National Board of Revenue has slapped on a condition that goods to be transited through Bangladesh will require owners of cargo or their agents to submit a guarantee or security.

The NBR is yet to decide in which form the guarantee will come.

“We will soon issue a notice to clarify it,” a senior official of NBR said yesterday, seeking to remain unnamed.

The new measure comes in the Finance Bill 2016 placed by Finance Minister AMA Muhith in parliament last week.

“We have proposed to introduce a provision for the guarantee or security in the law to ensure that there is no leakage of goods on the way, and goods that will enter the country will be taken to foreign territory,” said the official.

Rules will be framed in line with the latest provision, said the official, adding that NBR is working on the draft.

The move comes as the government is set to allow India and other neighbouring countries to transport goods to their territories through Bangladesh.

Earlier, the revenue authority had proposed the need for a bank guarantee to give transit, particularly for goods to be carried from India to its northeastern region. However, the NBR did not get the green light from policymakers then.

The Customs Law, framed in 1969, already has a provision for transit of goods across Bangladesh, which empowers customs authority to allow transit without payment of duties.

In November last year, India agreed to pay Bangladesh a water transit fee of Tk 192.22 per tonne of goods to be transported from its Tripura state to Ashuganj port in Bangladesh.

Of the amount, Tk 130 will be custom-related fees for the transit and transhipment of goods through Bangladesh waterways authorised under a river protocol between Bangladesh and India.

The move is also meant to facilitate the movement of goods under the motor vehicle agreement among Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal.