In a move that is expected to give a further boost to manufacturing and export of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) in Bangladesh, the country’s National Board of Revenue (NBR) has waived off import duty on PPE, face masks, raw materials required to manufacture the same and other products including disinfectants, etc., needed to combat COVID-19, till 30 September.
The exemption which was earlier supposed to expire on 30 June, has now been extended till 30 September after the NBR’s customs wing issued a statutory order regarding the same recently.
As per the new directive, only IRC holder pharmaceutical companies, garment manufacturers and medical equipment manufacturers would be able to avail this duty exemption facility.
But to get this benefit of import duty exemption, one has to get approval from the Director General of Drug Administration.
It may be mentioned here that production and export of PPE from Bangladesh has picked up momentum lately with as many as 30 garment manufacturers reportedly getting into PPE and mask making recently for both domestic and global markets.
A renowned name in Bangladesh apparel manufacturing sector, Beximco has already started making PPE in large quantities and exporting to overseas destinations of European Union (EU), Canada and USA, as per media reports.
