Importers to pay interest on late clearance of goods

The National Board of Revenue (NBR) is taking a tough stance to prevent import consignments from being kept at the port for days after their arrival.

Currently, importers have to pay port demurrage or charges if they do not clear their consignments or pay duties and taxes on time. But from now on, they will also have to pay interest to the customs department in addition to port charges.

A provision to this effect has been added to the new customs law passed in parliament on Tuesday.

According to Section 32 of the new customs law, if duties, taxes, and other charges are not paid within the specified date, an interest of 10% will have to be paid on that tax. This interest will also apply to any outstanding amount.

It is often seen that imported consignments are not cleared on time after they arrive at the port. There is procrastination. This creates congestion at the port. The new provision will reduce the tendency to keep imported consignments at the port for a long time, a senior customs department official told the Business Standard.

However, business leaders consider such a provision to be illogical. Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA) Executive President Mohammad Hatem told TBS, "If there is a delay due to customs, will they pay us interest?"

 "We want to release the consignment as soon as possible. But there is often delay due to customs. Then the provision should be that the person who is causing the delay will pay interest to the other party," he added.

The new law also includes some other provisions. However, NBR officials said that most of the provisions have already been introduced in the old law through the Finance Act in the last two budgets and NBR started implementing them.

Floating exchange rate being introduced in valuation

In addition, a floating exchange rate is being introduced in the new law. As a result, the real-time exchange rate will be used in the valuation of imported shipments. Concerned parties believe that this will reduce the opportunity for any party to gain an advantage.

Currently, duties and taxes are collected based on the average rate of the previous month in the case of valuation. Now, the valuation and tax will be considered based on the daily exchange rate of the central bank.