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The revenue board has opened three more customs ports for import and export of goods from Nepal and Bhutan using Indian territory.
The land customs stations (LCs) include Tamabil of Sylhet, Chilmari of Kurigram and Nakugoan of Sherpur.
Customs wing of the National Board of Revenue (NBR) issued a Statutory Regulatory Order (SRO), dated December 01, 2019, in this connection.
According to the SRO, businesses will now be able to import all goods, except potato and yarn – produced and processed in Nepal and Bhutan, through the LC stations from Nepal and Bhutan.
However, export of all products is permitted through the LC stations.
Earlier, only Burimari (Lalmonirhat) and Banglabandha (Panchagarh) LC stations were open for export and import of goods from the two countries.
Through amending the previous SRO on cross-border trade, the NBR has also included the number of products eligible for import from neighbouring India through different LC stations, including Akhaura, Darshana (rail route) and Bibirbazar (Cumilla).
Customs authority will allow import of paper, sugar, cashew nut, generator, broken glass, chocolate, baby wiper, confectionary goods and bitumen through Akhaura (Brahmanbaria) and Bibirbazar land ports.
Those products were under negative list earlier, a senior customs official said.
Through the SRO, the NBR has excluded the items from the negative list to allow import from India using those ports, he said.
India has long been demanding withdrawal of port restrictions on export of 19 items through Akhaura and few more goods through other major LC stations.
From now on, customs will allow import of dry fish, raw hide, spices and Arjun flower (for broom) through Bibirbazar, and pulse, raw cotton and cotton bale through Darshana (rail route) from India.
However, importers and exporters will have to fulfil the conditions related to rules of origin under the notification of the revenue board issued on April 24, 1977.
Currently, Bangladesh has 184 land customs stations at borders with neighbouring countries – India and Myanmar.
(FE)
