The government will introduce a temporary duty-free bond facility for partial exporters, aimed at boosting export earnings and encouraging diversification.
The announcement was made during the second monthly coordination meeting between the National Board of Revenue (NBR) and investment promotion agencies on Tuesday.
The meeting was chaired by Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (BIDA) Executive Chairman Ashik Chowdhury and attended by NBR Chairman Md Abdur Rahman Khan, along with officials from various investment agencies.
A gazette notification will soon be issued to allow partial export-oriented industries to avail bonded warehouse benefits against a 100 percent bank guarantee, BIDA said in a statement following the meeting. This facility will be limited to raw materials and components imported solely for export purposes, ensuring price competitiveness in the export market.
Partial exporters are businesses or industries that engage in export activities but do not export their entire production. Instead, these exporters use imported raw materials or components to manufacture products for export.
The new facility, which will be available against bank guarantees, will provide significant advantages to domestic industries by allowing them to use imported raw materials for export production without paying duties upfront.
The meeting also discussed the progress of automating bond services. With a full transition to automated systems expected to replace manual processes shortly.
Additionally, the requirement for Utilization Declaration (UD) will be conditionally relaxed for licensed warehouse operators supplying goods and services to enterprises in Export Processing Zones (EPZs) or Economic Zones, where payments are made through internal letters of credit in foreign currency.
To streamline customs clearance, consignments will be released even if there is a mismatch between the HS Code and product description declared in the bond license, entitlement sheet, or UD, and those determined by Customs through physical inspection.
However, this will apply only if the first four digits of the HS Code match. In such cases, importers will be required to submit an undertaking to update the bond license or UD within 30 days.
The meeting also addressed 31 other issues aimed at improving the investment climate in Bangladesh.
“The bond facilities for partial exporters would enable domestic industries to rely on imported raw materials to export at competitive prices. This initiative will accelerate export diversification in non-RMG sectors and attract both local and foreign investment,” said Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (BIDA) Executive Chairman Ashik Chowdhury.
“The importance of rational, investment-friendly reforms and the significance of self-assessment and post-clearance audit processes to ensure faster clearance of goods from ports,” said National Board of Revenue (NBR) Chairman Md Abdur Rahman Khan.
He assured that he would personally intervene to implement necessary policy adjustments.
