rama dewan joint chief bangladesh tariff commission a.h.m ... · trade facilitation initiatives in...
TRANSCRIPT
Rama Dewan Joint Chief
Bangladesh Tariff Commission &
A.H.M. Shafiquzzaman Deputy Secretary
Ministry of Commerce
Structure of the Presentation
Bangladesh at a glance
Trade growth of Bangladesh
Trade Facilitation Initiatives in Bangladesh
WTO Trade facilitation Agreement
Framework Agreement (FA) on Facilitation of Cross-border Paperless Trade in Asia and the Pacific
National Single Window
Implementation Challenges
Bangladesh at a glance Location: Between 200 34' and 260 38' north latitude and between
880 01' and 920 41' east longitude Boundary: North: India (West Bengal and Meghalaya) West: India (West Bengal) East: India (Tripura and Assam) South East: Myanmar South: Bay of Bengal Area: 147,570 square km. Total population: 160 million Life expectancy at birth: 69 years Political system: Parliamentary democracy Capital: Dhaka (biggest city in Bangladesh)
Trade growth of Bangladesh
Source: World Development Indicators (2015), World Bank
Trade Facilitation Initiatives in Bangladesh
Bangladesh has already pursuing liberalized trading regime
All rules, regulations and statutory orders related to trade facilitation are published and made available in the website.
Import licensing system was abolished back in 1985 for all products other than the products which require special import permit for health, environment and other reason.
Number of pre-clearance signatures has gone down to 5 from 25, and export clearance time for 95% of consignments has been reduced from 72 hours in 1999 to 3 hours now and Customs is trying to further reduce the procedure and release time by automation.
Trade Facilitation Initiatives in
Bangladesh (Cont….)
ASYCUDA world, has been put in all major Custom stations in Bangladesh
In 2009, Customs installed four container scanners at the Chittagong port to detect contraband/illegal shipments and weapons, aimed at ensuring security while facilitating legitimate trade.
A selectivity system has also been implemented at the ports
Chittagong Port Authority has introduced container management system (CTM), which has facilitated automation of import operations.
National Board of Revenue (NBR): Customs Modernization Strategic Action Plan 2014-2017
Trade Facilitation Initiatives in
Bangladesh (Cont….)
Bangladesh Trade Portal: Hosted by Ministry of Commerce, the portal provides an accessible, logical, helpful window for traders to access important regulatory and procedural information needed to export and import.
A post-audit system is also under development to verify the accuracy of green channel and yellow channel clearances. The Government plans to extend the system to include both imports and exports and to implement the system at other customs offices.
Draft of new Customs Act has been approved in principle by Cabinet, and will soon be placed in National Parliament for approval.
Trade Facilitation Initiatives in
Bangladesh (Cont….)
The introduction of Authorized Economic Operators (AEO) is under active consideration at the NBR
Time Release Studies (TRS) of Chittagong Port and Benapole Port was conducted in 2013 and 2014.
Modernization activities under SASEC is ongoing.
As per discussion of BIMSTEC Goa Declaration at 8th BRICS Summit it was decided to expedite BIMSTEC Agreement as well as to draft separate Trade Facilitation Agreement under BIMSTEC. Bangladesh as the host country of 21 BIMSTEC TNC meeting is working on the draft of BIMSTEC TFA.
WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA)
Bangladesh has ratified WTO TFA on 27 September 2016
National Trade facilitation Committee (NTFC):
NBR has established a 19 members committee under the chairmanship of Member (Customs) comprising officials/representatives of relevant ministries/ departments / trade bodies
Framework Agreement (FA) on Facilitation of Cross-border Paperless Trade in Asia and the Pacific
Ministry of Commerce is collecting opinion from relevant stakeholders regarding FA
Inter-ministerial meeting will be held by the end of February 2017.
National Single Window (NSW)
Government has decided to establish NSW
NBR will act as the lead agency for setting up the NSW
NSW working group has been established
NSW would be established under the Regional Connectivity Project of the World Bank
NBR formed a Project Implementation Unit to establish the NSW with NBR Member (Customs Modernization) as the Project Director
NBR plans Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with 60 OGAs to effectively implement NSW.
A sub-committee will draft the MoU in consultation with the members of NSW Working Group.
The Planning Commission has approved DPP.
Implementation Challenges
Trade Facilitation measures involves
Customs &
Other Border/Government Agencies (OGAs) that are involved in trade
Though Customs remains the key player, implementation of paperless trade facilitation requires modernization of both Customs and OGAs
Implementation Challenges (Cont…)
Other OGAs (in Bangladesh) having major responsibility include-
Chief Controller of Import & Export
Plant Quarantine Department
Atomic Energy Commission
Drug Administration Directorate
Bangladesh Standard Testing Institute
Bangladesh Export Processing Zone Authority
Port authorities
Implementation Challenges (Cont…)
Customs has undergone significant changes since the early 1990s through many donor-funded reform programs.
Customs is more advanced in terms of its own modernization and implementation towards paperless trade facilitation measures but OGAs are not so advanced. Therefore, implementation of paperless trade facilitation measures remain critical challenges for OGAs .
Resource constraint for modernization of OGAs
Development Partners Engaged in TF Implementation in Bangladesh
World Bank program
Asian Development Bank SASEC program
International Finance Corporation SARTI program
USAID Bangladesh program
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