Import containers must move same day

The National Board of Revenue (NBR) has directed that all import containers destined for private inland container depots (ICDs) or off-docks must be transferred to the designated facilities on the very day they are unloaded from vessels at Chattogram port.

In a circular issued on August 14 and signed by Md Al Amin, second secretary of the NBR for customs, the revenue authority laid out two additional directives alongside the same-day transfer requirement.

It specified that if, for valid reasons, all containers of a particular consignment cannot be shifted to an off-dock on the first day, the remaining containers must be moved without delay on the following day.

In such cases, charges will only be applicable once the entire consignment has been transferred.

The NBR further instructed that where off-docks are unable to handle containers due to capacity shortages or other exceptional circumstances, the commissioner of Customs House, Chattogram, will retain the authority to approve "dual delivery," allowing importers to take delivery from both the port and the off-docks.

Currently, 65 categories of imported goods are permitted for unstuffing and delivery through 19 private ICDs. More than 30 percent of import containers arriving at the port are transferred to these depots for delivery to consignees.

The circular noted that business bodies, industrial units, and stakeholders have recently complained of procedural complexities, delays, and inadequate off-dock capacity in handling import consignments.

Several ICD operators, however, argued that the congestion which plagued the depots last month has eased considerably in recent weeks.

They attributed existing delays in bringing ICD-bound import containers mainly to acute congestion at the port yards.

"If the port authority could allocate designated space for ICD-bound containers within the port, it would greatly facilitate quicker transfers," said a senior executive of an ICD, requesting anonymity.

He further observed that the prevailing practice of transferring containers from the ship's hook point remains time-consuming.