The Bangladesh Export Processing Zones Authority (BEPZA) has proposed raising the annual import ceiling for alcohol and other consumables for foreign nationals at Chattogram Export Processing Zone from Tk1 crore to Tk12 crore, citing higher demand and currency depreciation.
In a recent letter to the National Board of Revenue (NBR), BEPZA Executive Director Md Murshid Alam said the Tk1 crore limit was set in 1991, when 212 foreign nationals worked at the zone.
The number has since risen to 320, while inflation and the exchange rate have changed significantly, he said.
Currently, foreign employees are supplied food, cigarettes, alcohol, beverages and cosmetics through a designated commissariat.
Under a customs statutory regulatory order, each foreign investor, official or technician can import goods worth $120 per month for food, medicine and other consumables.
They are also allowed $200 per month for alcoholic beverages, liquor and cigarettes, taking the total entitlement to $320 per person monthly.
BEPZA said the exchange rate has risen from about Tk37 per dollar in the early 1990s to Tk122.
Considering the increased workforce, higher prices and currency depreciation, the authority recommended fixing the annual ceiling at $1 million, equivalent to about Tk12 crore at the current rate.
The commissariat’s bond licence has been renewed until December 2026, while its narcotics licence has been renewed for the 2025-26 fiscal year.
Registration with the Department of Narcotics Control for importing various alcohol brands has been completed, BEPZA said.
In line with the Alcohol Control Rules, 2022 under the Narcotics Control Act, 2018, the process of obtaining import permission from the Department of Narcotics Control, along with EPZ recommendations, is underway.
