Ctg customs to auction Tk 45cr goods
Chattogram Customs House will auction off around 1,050 tonnes of abandoned goods worth Tk 45 crore on Sunday. It will get rid of around 50 lots of goods, including 180 pieces of CNG-run auto-rickshaws, 150 tonnes of garment fabrics, 300 tonnes of steel items, and 130 tonnes of chemicals.
Furniture, plastics, hand sanitizer, fish and other food items are also included in the list.
The importers did not take the delivery of the goods in time that were brought in through Chattogram port between 2018 and 2020.
The customs authority starts the procedure to auction off foreign goods if the importers do not receive the items within 30 days after they arrive at the port.
Usually, businesses refrain from taking the delivery of goods because of a fall in the prices of goods in the local market, failure to submit original documents in support of the shipment, failure to get clearance, and refusal to pay fines for anomalies.
"The bidders are getting good response as the goods are in good shape," Deputy Commissioner for Auction Faisal Bin Rahman told The Daily Star.
To reduce the pressure on auction-able goods, the customs authority has taken an initiative to organise one auction every month. "Hopefully, if it is done regularly, the abandoned products will be saved from wastages," Rahman said.
In the last five years to 2020, the customs authority sold Tk 265.62 crore worth of abandoned goods through 64 tenders.
About 7,553 containers weighing around 15,000 tonnes of abandoned goods piled up at Chattogram port yards between January 2016 and December 2020, data from the Chattogram Port Authority showed.
The auction process was delayed due to the shortage of adequate workforce and equipment, according to customs officials. Sometimes importers or auctioneers go to courts, causing further delay, they said.
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