Shah Alam Nur :Goods imported under bonded warehouse facilities (BWFs) are being sold in the open market.Many companies have been selling fabrics and accessories, imported for export oriented apparel units under the BWFs, violating the Custom Act 1969.Duty on imported cloths varies between 30 and 100 per cent, but these materials are available cheaply at Islampur and other wholesale markets in and around the city.”A large number of local companies are allegedly selling fabrics and other accessories in particular in the local market, which were imported under BWFs. It is surely a violation of the existing Custom Act 1969″, Customs Intelligence and Investigation Directorate (CIID) Director General Moinul Khan told The New Nation on Monday.”In the last one year, the custom intelligence unit found more than 400 readymade garment (RMG) and backward linkage companies selling duty-free imported goods in the open market instead of using it in their export oriented industries,” he said.He said, trucks and covered vans carry imported foreign fabrics for the export-oriented apparel units and unload those for locally consumed at around midnight.He said, the customs authorities are going to introduce security teams to stop sale of goods, which are getting duty-free benefit in the open market.The National Board of Revenue (NBR) is going to introduce security teams with member from Police, RAB, Ansar VDP and other law enforcing agencies to stop sale of bonded warehouse goods in the open market, he said.An NBR official said that large number of companies located in and around Dhaka received licences for duty-free import of raw materials on condition of manufacturing exportable goods. But they are selling the fabric in the open market.He said that in the last one year the customs authorities seized 60 loaded trucks from Dhaka-Chittagong highway which were going to sell goods in the open market violating bonded warehouse facilities.At that time the authorities also suspended bond licences of more than 200 exporters and launched certificate cases against 305 companies, he said.Imported fabrics with bonded warehouse facilities are being sold in city’s Islampur, Babubazar in Narshindi and other markets, he informed.Islampur Cloth Merchant Association (ICMA) Vice-President Delwar Hossain Matin admitted that some wholesalers might sell imported (BWF) cloths in this market.He said, “More than 90 per cent locally produced cloths are sold in Islampur wholesale market. Good number duty-free imported fabrics are sold at Sadarghat and other markets in the capital.”Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) Vice-President Faruque Hasan said “We don’t have any information as to which companies have been misusing bonded warehouse facilities”.He said if any company is found violating the law and misusing bonded warehouse facilities, his association will take stern action against that company. According to the Customs Intelligence and Investigation Directorate, there are 6000 industrial units which are cent per cent export oriented and are getting bonded warehouse facilities.
