PSI contracts may extend

The government is likely to extend its contract with the pre-shipment inspection (PSI) companies for another year in order to give more time to the National Board of Revenue (NBR) to enhance its organisational capacity.
A letter with regard to such time extension from the finance ministry has already been forwarded to the NBR, its chairman said yesterday.
“We've got an indication from the government about the contractual extension for the firms doing the job of pre-shipment watch. If it's done finally, we'll have more time for our capacity building as the board now is faced with skilled manpower constraint to do so,” said Dr Nasiruddin Ahmed.
Ahmed also pointed out that abolishing the PSI system is not possible overnight.
However, the NBR chief said performances of PSI firms are now under the board's evaluation.
Presently, a core committee of NBR is working on phasing out PSI companies with an aim to gradually develop its skills to cease its reliance on these companies. Detecting the board's shortcomings and suggesting way outs are some other jobs this body has been assigned for.
In this context Ahmed stressed 'political will' to beef up government's own strength.
Initially, the government inked deals with four PSI companies for a period of 3 years in 1999, validity of which expire today.
Different trade bodies, including the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry, demanded that the government continue the present PSI system at least for one year in the interest of businesses and revenue collections.