In what is seen as an effort to bring in more transparency in the whole process, the apex garment makers’ body in Bangladesh, the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), has decided to start automation of Utilisation Declaration (UD) issuance on 16 January 2021.
In a circular issued in this direction on 10 January (Sunday), the garment makers’ body informed all its members that online submission process of UD applications, including those related to fees submission and corrections, would start on 16 January while underlining it would not accept any manual submission of UDs from the said date.
Underlining BGMEA began the UD automation process in 2015 but submissions could not be done online then and going on to add that e-signature is effective for the online UD submission, BGMEA President Dr. Rubana Huq said the idea behind automating the process was to bring in more efficiency and transparency.
It may be mentioned here that against the backdrop of the allegations of corruption against BGMEA officials in issuing the UDs as well as that of many apparel exporters, reportedly, misusing the bonded warehouse facility through tampering the UDs issued manually, BGMEA undertook the initiative to automate the issuance of UDs.