Move to ease container crunch

Chattogram Custom House has started disposing of 298 containers filled with perishable goods that were left abandoned by importers at the country's premier seaport for years.

Last Monday, the customs authority began disposing of around 6,000 tonnes of perishable items, including onions, apple, orange, seeds, meat, bone meal and fish feed, which were imported between 2011 to 2020.

Customs and port officials said the initiative would help reduce the global container shortage amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

Thousands of containers have been held up at Chattogram port for years now due to lengthy auction and disposal process.

Shahed Sarwer, director of K Line shipping, told The Daily Star that container fares have increased due to a shortage of containers amid the pandemic.

Most of these containers and goods have been stuck at ports due to the pandemic-induced closure of manufacturing units around the world.

"So even though imports and exports have risen over the past few months, the containers are not being delivered accordingly," Sarwer said.

For example, garment exports have been increasing slowly but empty containers are not readily available.

"To deal with this crisis, there is no option but to end the auctioning of containers quickly," he added.

Sarwer went on to say that a container can be rented out 10 times in a year and that a shipping agent loses at least $20,000 when a container gets stuck at any port.

According to Chattogram Custom House and Chattogram Port data, importers failed to take delivery of consignments worth a total of Tk 11,286 crore between July 2016 and December 2020.

Those goods are taking up 7,737 containers as well as valuable space at the port.

Besides, delivery of these consignments would have earned the government around Tk 5,500 crore in customs duty, the data shows.

Meanwhile, the customs authority earned just Tk 265.61 core by auctioning off 10,160 lots and perishable goods from 760 containers worth Tk 220 crore as it failed to auction off those items in a timely manner.  

Port users said if the auctions were arranged in due time, such wastage could be averted. In turn, the country would save foreign currency by avoiding imports of the same goods. 

According to the Customs Act 1969, unclaimed goods can be auctioned off if importers fail to take delivery within 30 days of the consignment's arrival at the port.

Importers abandon their consignments at the port due to fall in prices in the local market, failure to submit original documents in support of the shipment, failure to get clearance permit reports, and their refusal to pay fines for anomalies, according to custom officials and various importers.

AKM Sultan Mahamud, deputy commissioner of Chattogram Custom, told The Daily Star that it takes a little more time to carry out disposal activities in accordance with the proper rules and in an environmentally friendly manner.

"But over the last two years, the sale of these products through regular auctions as well as the destruction of damaged or prohibited products has gained momentum," he said.

Around 59 tonnes of dangerous chemicals that were abandoned at the port were recently destroyed.

"Now, we started disposing of prohibited and perishable goods," Mahamud added.

Ahsanul Haque Chowdhury, president of the Bangladesh Shipping Agents Association, said one of the reasons these containers have been lying in the port for years is the lack of coordination among agencies concerned, including customs, city corporations, the Atomic Energy Commission and the Department of Environment.

If the goods of any containers need to be destroyed or auctioned off, then these departments must get involved.

"This makes the procedure quite lengthy and so, it should be made simpler," he said.

"We sent various letters to the National Board of Revenue and customs house to ease the auction process.

"We suggested the formation of a taskforce committee that involves all related departments to speed up the auction procedure but those recommendations are yet to be implemented," Chowdhury added.

The fact that containers are held up at Bangladesh's ports is detrimental to the country's international image as many container owners become unwilling to provide their containers for Bangladesh bound goods.

Unclaimed goods occupy 15 to 20 per cent of the port's yard, leaving insufficient space for emergency loading and unloading operations and other regular activities, said Md Omar Faruq, secretary of Chattogram Port.

"The customs and port authorities have taken several initiatives to reduce those containers as emptying activities have increased compared to the past." he added.