It takes an average of 11 days, 6 hours and 23 minutes to complete the customs clearance process at Chittagong Custom House. And it takes 10 days 8 hours 11 minutes to Benapole and 7 days 11 hours 19 minutes to Dhaka. After the arrival of the goods at the port, six steps are completed, starting from submission of bill of entry, submission of documents, inspection of consignment, valuation, payment of customs duties and clearance of goods.

The National Board of Revenue (NBR) released the Time Release Study 2022 on Monday. In this study, the time taken to clear imported goods at Chittagong, Benapole and Dhaka Custom Houses is revealed. The study also revealed that 72 to 78 percent of the time goes before the collection and submission of the importer’s documents, i.e. before the customs clearance process begins.

The unveiling ceremony of this research report was held at a hotel in the capital yesterday. NBR Chairman Abu Hena. Rahmatul Munim presided over it. The study was supported by the Global Trade Facilitation Program of Switzerland.

This research has been done using 1 thousand 209 bills of entry selected from 8 thousand 860 bills of entry last May. It was informed on the occasion that this study was approved by the World Customs Organization (WCO).

The report shows how long it takes to clear an invoice for certain types of products. It is said that the import of capital equipment takes an average of 12 days in the three custom houses mentioned. Apart from this, it takes 5 days at Dhaka Custom House and 10 days at Benapole and Chittagong Custom Houses to release the raw material of garments. It takes more than 10 days and 5 hours at Chittagong Custom House to release drug products.

In 2014, NBR conducted a survey on clearance of import-export goods only at Chittagong Custom House. It is said there that it took 11 days 9 hours 45 minutes to clear the consignment of a product through the Chittagong Custom House.

Shamim Ahmed, a member of the customs affairs committee of FBCCI, an apex organization of traders, said, “Why is it taking so much time, I hope NBR will solve it.” Corporates can easily get rid of the goods as their own management is strong. However, the lack of capacity of small and medium enterprises should also be considered.

The program was conducted by NBR member Masood Sadiq. NBR members Abdul Mannan Shikder, Zakia Sultana, Commissioner Abdul Hakim and others spoke.