C&F agents continue to strike for third day

Clearing and forwarding agents continue to protest strict customs measures at Kamalapur Inland Container Depot in Dhaka yesterday. Photo: Star

A strike by a section of clearing and forwarding agents at the Kamalapur Inland Container Depot (ICD) continued for the third day, hampering delivery of import consignments and arrival of exportable items for shipment.
As in the previous days, the striking agents yesterday refrained from submitting bills of entry and facilitating physical examination of import consignments.
In an attempt to break the deadlock, the National Board of Revenue will now sit with the strikers and leaders of the Dhaka Customs Agents Association (DCAA) at its headquarters today.
Meanwhile, two NBR members, Md Farid Uddin and Sultan Md Iqbal, yesterday visited the ICD and held a five-hour meeting with the customs officials about the ongoing strike.
“We have instructed officials not to harass service seekers, reduce formalities and avoid re-inspection unless there is an unavoidable circumstance. We have also asked them to give reports of physical inspection quickly,” said Farid Uddin.
The leaders of DCAA also sat with the strikers yesterday but failed to find a solution despite a couple of hour-long meetings, said DCAA President Sheikh Md Farid.
The deadlock, which began on June 8, started after the customs house tightened measures for inspections of consignments in a bid to stop tax evasion.
Enraged by the move, the C&F agents went on strike bypassing the DCAA, the platform for C&F agents.
Strikers demanded removal of Customs Commissioner Maruful Islam and Joint Customs Commissioner Khaled Mohammad Abu Hossain, accusing them of enforcing “dictatorial” rules.
The agents alleged “harassment” by the commissioner, who demands frequent re-examination of import consignments. The re-inspection costs time and money, they said.

However, customs officials said only 17 of the 4,026 consignments were re-inspected since Islam assumed his current position. Besides, during re-inspection, duty evasion was detected, they added.
Insiders said some leaders of DCAA and some other agents connected with the ruling party were behind the strike, as detection of duty-dodging by the customs house at ICD went against their interests.
The National Board of Revenue received Tk 1,292 crore in revenue in the July-May period of the fiscal year from the ICD, which handles more than 120 containers a day. The revenue in fiscal 2012-13 was Tk 1,629 crore.