Businesses assured of 7-day waiver of port demurrage charges

The government has assured that it will withdraw port demurrage charges racked up during the first seven days of the recent internet outage.

State Minister for the Ministry of Shipping Khalid Mahmud Chowdhury came up with the assurance when business leaders met him in the city today, according to apparel industry leaders.

The shipping ministry is likely to issue a gazette to this end by tomorrow (Monday), they said.

BGMEA President SM Mannan Kochi led the six-member team, including its First Vice President Syed Nazrul Islam, Senior Vice President Khandoker Rafiqul Islam, and Vice President Rakibul Alam Chowdhury.

Talking with TBS after the meeting, Rakibul said, "The government has taken a policy decision to withdraw seven-day port demurrage charges to give breathing space for international trade."

Port demurrage is a charge payable on failure to unload imported goods carrying containers within the time agreed upon. The fine is imposed for not being able to take delivery within six days after a container reaches a particular port.

BGMEA Director Ashikur Rahman Tuhin said the state minister informed them that a gazette notification would be issued by Monday.

BGMEA First Vice President Syed Nazrul Islam said taking into account that the delay was out of the control of exporters or importers, the government decided to withdraw port demurrage charges for seven days.

In response to a question, he also added that there is no decision yet about those who have already paid their port demurrage charges during the release of their goods.

Nazrul noted that the country does not have any mechanism to refund any fees once deposited into the government exchequer.

Earlier, leading trade bodies, including the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) and the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), have requested waiving these charges.