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Bangladesh-India move to improve customs efficiency

Star Business Report
Bangladesh and India are set to leave two important land ports open seven days a week from January to support greater trade between the two neighbouring nations.
Customs offices at Benapole and Akhaura land ports will remain open from 7am to 7pm every day. It means the customs offices at Petrapole and Agartala land ports of India will also remain open at the same time.
At present, the Benapole and Akhaura customs offices remain closed on Fridays. On Saturdays, the offices are kept open on a limited scale, to only release imported perishablegoods.
The Petrapole and Agartala land ports also remain closed on Fridays.
However, the office hours are different on both sides of the land ports.
The decision was taken on the first day of a two-day meeting styled 'Ninth meeting of joint group of customs of Bangladesh and India' that began yesterday at Ruposhi Bangla Hotel in Dhaka, a senior official of National Bangladesh Revenue said.
Customs officials of the two neighbouring countries also agreed to exchange export-import related information to check misdeclaration and under-invoicing that cause huge revenue loss, particularly for Bangladesh, he said at the meeting.
It was also decided that customs officials would enjoy free movement to the counterpart's land port areas, to investigate the wrongdoings in trade, resolve disputes and facilitate trade through a formal channel.
Both sides emphasised formalising bilateral trade by easing customs procedures and reducing harassment.
"Exporters and importers face problems due to differences in the countries' working hours," the NBR official said. Customs administration from both sides decided to synchronise the working hours and days, the official added.
The move will benefit traders the most, as it will reduce delays in loading and unloading goods, operation costs and other complexities, the official said.
On free movement, a customs official said India has already allowed free movement (without a visa) of Bangladeshi customs officials. "We have decided to provide the same facility to them." Bangladesh loses huge amounts in revenue every year as importers do not declare the correct price and volume of goods imported from India and dodge customs duties.
"If Indian customs officials share their assessment of imported goods and prices, we can detect cases of misdeclaration and under-invoicing," he said.
A trader who imports 100 tonnes of products from India declares 80 tonnes at lower prices to evade duties, he gave an example. Various issues related to bilateral trade, non-tariff barriers and infrastructure development at the land customs stations were also discussed at the meetingto enhance the trade facilitation mechanism.
NBR Chairman Ghulam Hussain led the Bangladesh part, while Indian Revenue Secretary Sumit Bose led his side.