The bond license renewal of as many as 27 tanneries in Bangladesh has been suspended due to environmental non-compliance even as the Customs Bond Commissionerate of the National Board of Revenue (NBR), in a notice issued recently, has, reportedly, underlined clearance certificates from the Department of Environment are a must for the license renewal.
The NBR further, reportedly,hinted the licences of these tanneries might be suspended for breaching bond licence conditions, along with import-export bans, and without the bond licence, tanneries will not be able to import chemicals at duty-free facilities, required for processing hides, which will, reportedly, cost them additional 30-35 per cent to process leather.
Following this, the platform of tannery owners, The Bangladesh Tanners Association (BTA), has already met NBR top officials while also requesting them not to delay the bond licence renewal while the Department of Environment and other parties concerned were being contacted by the Ministry of Industries, which is responsible for supervising the tannery village in Savar.
