Bhutan’s first trial transit consignment has remained stuck at Burimari land port for four days as it awaits entry approval from Indian authorities, despite having earlier cleared customs at Chattogram port under the bilateral transit framework between Bangladesh and Bhutan.
The shipment was released from Chattogram port on Wednesday night after all formalities were completed, according to port officials. A 20-foot container carrying Bhutanese imports from Thailand left the port that evening on a prime-mover trailer and was scheduled to reach Burimari by Friday afternoon, marking the first operational step of Bhutan’s transit use of Bangladeshi territory.
Burimari Land Port Authority officials said the consignment arrived at around 4:30pm on Thursday. “The cargo is still waiting here because India has not yet issued clearance,” said Mahmudul Hasan, assistant director of the authority. He said the container will move onward once India approves entry.
Officials involved with the forwarding process said Indian authorities are expected to begin processing the paperwork after offices reopen on Monday. Clearance would then allow the goods to cross into India and continue toward Bhutan.
The consignment contains more than 6,500 kilograms of consumer items, including iced tea, shampoo, dried palm fruit, jelly, candy, chocolate and juice. It was imported by Bhutan’s Abit Trading Company Limited, which shipped the goods from Thailand’s Laem Chabang port. The vessel carrying the cargo reached Chattogram on September 22 during the first trial run following Bangladesh’s decision to operationalise the 2023 transit agreement with Bhutan.
Port and customs officials said the release process had taken additional time because several government offices needed to issue approvals. The National Board of Revenue authorised the customs procedure on November 17, followed by a letter from the Road Transport and Highways Division on November 20 regarding tolls and charges. After that, the clearing agent, NM Trading Corporation, began formal handling of the container.
Charges collected for the trial run included Tk 68,874 to Chattogram Custom House for scanning, security, documentation and administrative fees, Tk 16,792 in road tolls by the Road Transport and Highways Division, and Tk 16,047 to the Chittagong Port Authority for unloading and yard movement — a combined earning of Tk 1,01,713 for the government.
Under the agreed transit route, the consignment is to travel from Laem Chabang to Chattogram, cross Bangladesh to Burimari, enter India through Changrabandha, pass the Siliguri Corridor and Hasimara–Jaigaon, and finally reach Phuentsholing in Bhutan. The trial follows a series of earlier test runs conducted for Indian transit cargo via Chattogram and Mongla ports between 2020 and 2022, after which Bangladesh issued a permanent order in April 2023 to begin regular transit operations.
Officials say Bhutan’s routine transit shipments may start once this first consignment reaches its destination without complications.
