The National Board of Revenue (NBR) has approved the delivery of 1,856 containers carrying imported commodities to Dhaka’s Inland Container Depot (ICD) in Kamalapur via Chittagong Port or Pangaon Inland Container Terminal.
This move is in response to the acute container bottleneck of Dhaka-bound containers at Chittagong Port caused by the recent political turmoil, which has delayed rail travel.
Importers will be allowed to take advantage of this chance until 31st October, subject to four restrictions, the NBR stated in a regulation issued on Wednesday.
Previously, the Chattogram Port Authority requested directions from the NBR regarding a facility that required changes to the Import General Manifest (IGM).
For the release of goods, importers must submit an application to the relevant customs houses – Chittagong Custom House, ICD Custom House, or Pangaon Custom House – detailing the list of containers and preferred release locations.
Containers transferred from Chittagong Port to Pangaon ICT must be transported by water, managed by the Chattogram Port Authority.
After containers are unloaded from ships at Chittagong Port, importers usually take delivery from the port yard.
Alternatively, they may have the containers transported by ship to Pangaon ICT in Keraniganj, Dhaka, or by train to Dhaka ICD in Kamalapur.
However, the country’s recent political turmoil forced the suspension of rail operations at various points, resulting in Dhaka-bound containers becoming stalled at Chittagong Port.
Chittagong Port can handle up to 800 TEUs of containers bound for Kamalapur. However, during the disruption, this amount increased to 2,700 TEUs, greatly exacerbating congestion.
In light of this circumstance, Mustafa Kamal, senior secretary of the Ministry of Shipping, paid a visit to Chittagong Port and launched discussions at the highest levels of government to resolve the dilemma.
Following these conversations, NBR permitted the delivery of Dhaka ICD-bound containers from Chittagong Port and Pangaon ICT.