In an effort to expedite the process involved in import of cotton, Bangladesh’s National Board of Revenue (NBR) has reportedly relaxed submission of plant quarantine certificate for customs assessment of imported cotton, claimed media reports.
This step by the NBR reportedly follows the repeated demand from Bangladesh Textile Mills Association (BTMA) to ease the process of cotton import.
As per reports, the BTMA reportedly wrote at least four letters to NBR since August 2018 requesting reinstatement of the previous procedure of certificate submission as the new system as per BTMA officials, led to increased lead time in export of readymade garment products by at least four to five days.
Importers reportedly needed 4-5 days to manage the certificate from the quarantine office and another three to four days were required for completing the procedures to release the goods, which reportedly resulted in delay of yarn and fabrics supply to the respective RMG factories, which resulted in delay of garment shipments, reportedly claimed the BTMA officials, further adding that the delay in release of cotton from the ports also resulted in interruption of production process at the spinning mills.
Considering the challenges faced by the fabric manufacturers, the Chittagong Customs House recently issued an office order making the certification condition easier. Officials reportedly said that the customs authorities relaxed the condition to remove complexities in customs assessment process and reduce the consignment clearance time.
As per customs officials, following the latest move, there would be no problem now as the release of imported cotton would be expedited as importers would get some time to collect quarantine certificate while customs officials would be conducting the assessment procedure.