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The implementation of a fully automated customs process has been delayed due to the absence of an updated policy framework, said customs officials.
They said that customs modernisation was the key to facilitating cross-border trade and investment and reducing risk of duty evasion, but it was challenging to get the thing done under the exiting customs act.
Once the Customs Act-2020 is passed in parliament, it will pave the way for a full automation of the customs process, they said.
The new act will replace the Customs Act1969.
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.
Several committees were formed to review the draft customs act which features 28 chapters.
NBR officials said that they had been developing a number of modules of a fully automated customs system gradually and also introducing a number of rules and regulations through statutory regulatory order or other special orders.
As prescribed by the World Customs Organisation, the customs act must be updated to fulfil the condition of the country’s graduation to a developing country within 2024, Business Initiative Leading Development chief executive officer Ferdaus Ara Begum told New Age.
‘We proposed several recommendations on the draft customs act on several occasions, but still there has not been any progress in the introduction of the act,’ she said.
She said, ‘The NBR has slowly developed the customs automated system to facilitate the border trade but without a proper policy framework, it will be difficult to enjoy the advantage of the automation system.’
The customs automation must be integrated with other automation systems of the NBR and other government entities, she said.
NBR customs policy member Md Masud Sadiq said that the translation of the existing rules, regulations and other required documents into Bangla from English for the new customs act had been completed as the new law would be in Bangla.
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, he said.
It would also make export and import easier, faster and cost effective and improve the customs regime through automation, he said.
‘We hope that the new act will be passed in parliament in the next financial year,’ he added.
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