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The National Board of Revenue has started making preparations, including formulation of statutory regulatory order and rules and explanations, for implementation of the new customs law aimed at automating customs procedures, facilitating cross-border trade and investment and reducing risk of duty evasion.
The Customs Act-2020 is scheduled to be passed in parliament in December, replacing the previous 49-year old Customs Act‑1969, after more than one year of placing the draft act before the parliament in September 2019.
The revenue board has been trying to replace the law since 2013 and the first draft of the law was approved by the cabinet in September 2014 with some observations.
Officials said that the NBR’s customs wing had recently formed a number of committees to review the rules, SROs, orders, notices and explanations under the 1969 act and issue those by making compatible them with the new law, and provide trainings to customs officials and stakeholders, including traders.
An 11-member sub-committee, headed by customs first secretary (policy) AKM Nurul Huda Azad, formed on September 20 will look after the issues related to issuance of new rules and regulations.
It will also translate the existing rules, regulations and other required documents into Bengali from English as the new law has been prepared in Bangla, they said.
The committee was asked to complete their activities by October 31.
Another committee, headed by first secretary (customs international trade and agreement) Md Akbar Hossain, was formed to provide trainings to field-level customs officials and stakeholders, including importers and exporters, on the new law.
The committee will prepare training modules and schedules, create a pool of expert trainers and monitor the overall training programmes.
The committee will have to complete the training programmes by December 11.
The new act has incorporated the current international best practices to ensure a modern, standard and transparent customs business process in the country and reduce the time and cost of cross-border trade.
The measures, including the authorised economic operator, electronic declaration, risk management, post clearance audit, non-intrusive inspection and mutual recognition agreement, have been adopted in the law in line with the Revised Kyoto Convention and the SAFF Framework of Standards, the two global conventions on standardisation, simplification and supply chain security of international trade.
It will also facilitate implementation of the provisions, including advance ruling, stakeholders’ consultation and publication of notices, of the Trade Facilitation Agreement of the World Trade Organisation.
Officials said that digitisation in the customs environment through implementation of advance cargo declaration, electronic submission of export-import documents, electronic payments and maintenance of electronic records was one of the major objectives of the new law.
It would also make export and import easier, faster and cost effective and improve the customs regime through automation, they said.
A senior customs official said that the NBR took the steps to stay prepared to implement the law once it was passed in parliament.
Government high-ups have also been emphasising on implementation of the law from the very beginning, he said.
He, however, said that a number of provisions, including the authorised economic operator and advance ruling, of the new law had already been in practice incorporated through the finance acts in the last two years.
According to the law, customs authorities will have to hold mandatory consultations with stakeholders prior to bringing about any changes in the customs law and frame any rules under the law.
The NBR will also have to publish all customs related acts, rules, Gazette notices, orders and statutory regulatory orders on its web site on a mandatory basis.
There will also be an enquiry point to respond to queries from stakeholders related to customs issues.
There are no such provisions in the existing act, they said.
Transaction-based customs valuation system, a long-standing demand of importers, has also been incorporated into the law.
Customs will follow a technology-based risk management system to prevent mis-declaration, smuggling and duty evasion under the law.
The new law will also ensure penalty and punishment for non‑compliant traders based on repetition and gravity of offence while reducing the discretionary power of customs officials to ensure voluntary compliance of the law.
The law also proposed to empower customs officials with magistracy powers for the purpose of entry, search, seizure and arrest for violation of the provisions of the law.
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