Three pharmas to enjoy quicker port clearance

Sohel Parvez

Three drug makers are set to enjoy the privilege of being the revenue authority's trusted traders soon, meaning they would be able to clear their imported and exported goods from the ports faster than others, said officials yesterday.

Square, Beximco and Incepta Pharmaceuticals are set to be treated as Authorised Economic Operators (AEOs) on a pilot basis.

As AEOs they will enjoy 10 benefits, including the assurance to clear goods from ports in the least amount of time and cost.

AEOs would be able to save 7-10 days as assessment of duties would be completed prior to the arrival of import consignment and the goods would go directly to the factory premise. Examination would be done on the premises by VAT officials from the area.

“We have agreed in principle to provide these firms the AEO licences for six months,” said Moinul Khan, convener of an eight-member panel on AEO.

The panel yesterday sent a letter to the National Board of Revenue for its consent.

The three firms are expected to get their AEO licences within this month, said Khan, also the commissioner of Customs Valuation & Internal Audit.

The AEO concept, which was introduced by the World Customs Organization (WCO) under the Framework of Standards to Secure and Facilitate Trade (SAFE), was adopted in 2005 with a view to facilitating trade and creating a secure, transparent and predictable trading environment.

The NBR took the initiative to introduce AEOs in 2014 and framed rules in June last year to facilitate trade, said Md Reyadul Islam, second secretary of customs modernisation of the NBR.

AEO is recognition for compliance of businesses and a quality mark that indicates the supply chain is secure. Firms having the AEO status get green channel to do overseas trade. According to the WCO, 77 countries have AEO programmes.

The NBR's rules say that an AEO seeker should have a 'satisfactory compliance record' and there should be proven record that the applicant was not involved in any wrongdoing in the previous three years. This is an acknowledgment that AEOs are trustworthy business enterprises and they are more acceptable to the government, Khan said.

“There is also a security aspect. We become certain that there will no security threat from imports by AEOs. We will mostly accept their declarations (of imports). We will examine compliance through post-clearance audit.”

By giving quick clearance to the firms that are less risky from the viewpoint of duty evasion and security, the NBR will be able to allocate more resources and pay more attention to the firms, goods and import sources where the levels of risks are high, Khan said.

Bangladesh is introducing AEOs for the first time, so licences would be issued on an experimental basis for six months.

“We do not have enough experience and infrastructure. We will evaluate the performance of the AEOs one month ahead of the expiry of the six-month period. If we find that things are running well, we will allow them to continue and open it up for others,” said Khan. 

• The Daily Star / Jan 9, 2019