The chamber said customs duties are often associated with various other taxes, almost doubling the tax impact and adding to the cost of raw materials.

"This is one of the major factors that reduces competitiveness of our products even on domestic market, widening the way for imported ones," MCCI President Kutubuddin Ahmed said, after conveying their concerns to Commerce Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury.

Responding, the minister said he would discuss the issue with the National Board of Revenue (NBR).

The chamber felt that New Mooring container terminal, work on which has been completed, should be opened to businesses without further delay to reduce burdens on Chittagong Port.

With its limited capacity, the Chittagong seaport has already become unable to handle the increasing volume of containers, which are growing 13 percent every year and estimated to cross 1 million-mark in 2008, the chamber pointed out.

It also felt the urgency of implementing the government's plan, conceived long ago, for setting up an inland container terminal at Gazipur, since the lone Inland Container Depot (ICD) in Dhaka's Kamalapur area became overburdened.

The chamber also reiterated its concern at the finance minister's stance against import-level pre-shipment inspection (PSI) system and feared import costs would be higher if the system was abolished.

The commerce minister assured the MCCI delegation of taking up the issues with authorities concerned. He said that an inter-ministerial meeting would be arranged to decide on the Gazipur container terminal.