Ctg customs hands over 3 cars auctioned off for Tk 1.45cr

Custom House, Chattogram yesterday handed over three vehicles, two BMWs and one Toyota, which were brought to the Chattogram port duty-free under a United Nations convention and now auctioned off for Tk 1.45 crore.

The "UN Customs Convention on the Temporary Importation of Private Road Vehicles of 1954" facilitates a privilege known as Carnet de Passage.

It allows tourists to bring their vehicles to a country without payment of customs duties, provided the vehicles are taken back with the foreign nationals.

Against the backdrop of rising interest in importing cars under the facility, the National Board of Revenue (NBR) found that Bangladesh was not a signatory.

In April 2011, the NBR introduced a rule that foreign nationals provide security deposits amounting to the duties and taxes of the cars imported under the facility.

Under the facility, 120 luxury cars were brought between 2008 and 2012 through the Chattogram port.

From 2013, the NBR decided to stop entertaining the facility altogether.

Last November, customs took the initiative to auction off 112 of the vehicles. It was the fifth such attempt as the bids in the previous ones were too low to be acceptable.