The Customs department has defined the ‘scope of work’ for various stakeholders based on the Export General Manifest (EGM) to address the issue of ‘ghost’ exporters and combat money laundering.
This initiative follows recent discoveries of irregularities in the export process.
Bangladesh Government has implemented the EGM across all customs houses using the Asycuda System, with the objective of streamlining the export procedures, preventing siphoning of funds, reducing export processing time, and ensuring the reliability of export data.
Under the jurisdiction of the National Board of Revenue (NBR), a Specifics for Work (SfW) has been established for seaborne, land-port, and air cargo, which has come into effect from 15th October 2023.
This directive has been communicated to all relevant stakeholders, including export associations, customs houses nationwide, the Bangladesh Bank (BB), the Bangladesh Export Processing Zones Authority (BEPZA), Port Authorities, the Bangladesh Economic Zones Authority (BEZA), the Ministry of Commerce, the Export Promotion Bureau, Biman Bangladesh Airlines, and others.
The defined scope of work and guidelines will apply to entities involved in clearing and forwarding (C&F), shipping agencies, freight forwarders, off-dock or private inland container depots, customs officials, and airlines.
According to the recent order, signed by Rakibul Hassan, the first secretary in charge of customs automation, businesses engaged in the export of goods must submit the bill of lading (BL) in the Asycuda System upon completing the export process even as non-compliance with this requirement will lead to customs officials identifying and taking legal action against the exporters, shipping agents, airlines, freight forwarders, and C&F agents in accordance with the Customs Act of 1969.
Instances of fraudulent export activities, particularly those related to claiming fake export incentives, have prompted the NBR to issue this order.
