25 tonnes of goods sent by expats stuck at Ctg airport

Highlights:

• Up until March, around 90 consignments had accumulated in the cargo hall of the airport due to a halt on the release of goods sent under baggage rules.
• The charges for the airport warehouse are increasing daily, and the cargo stored there is being damaged.
• Baggage rules refer to reasonable quantities for goods sent by expatriates. As a result, expatriates used to send goods weighing 350kg in each shipment.
• But customs officials have verbally suspended the clearance of shipments weighing over 100kg. 
   

The customs authorities, without any written announcement, have once again halted the clearance of cargo sent by expatriates under the baggage rules for their families back home ahead of Ramadan and Eid-ul-Fitr from Chattogram Shah Amanat International Airport since 2 March.

As of March, around 90 consignments containing approximately 25 tonnes of products had accumulated in the cargo hall of the airport due to the halt.

The charges for the airport warehouse are increasing daily, and the cargo stored there is being damaged. Due to the halt in goods clearance, around 100 workers engaged in cargo handling have become unemployed.

Baggage rules refer to reasonable quantities for goods sent by expatriates. As a result, expatriates used to send goods weighing 350kg in each shipment.

Although there is no clear limit on the amount of goods that can be brought under the baggage rule, customs officials have verbally suspended the clearance of shipments weighing over 100kg. Consequently, shipments weighing over 100kg have been stuck for the past one and a half months.

Information from the airport's cargo wing reveals that expatriates tend to send a larger volume of goods around Ramadan and Eid, with approximately 600-700 shipments being cleared every week during that time.

Each shipment typically contains around 350kg of goods, generating a monthly income of approximately Tk30 lakh. However, due to the non-arrival of products, the income has decreased significantly, with only Tk36,000 earned in March, including charges for the warehouse.

Nurul Absar, a Dubai expatriate, told The Business Standard, "I sent milk powder and other daily necessities from Dubai last January. I came to the country on 2 March. But I could not get my goods released from Chattogram airport. Despite repeated efforts, customs is not releasing the goods. I am in doubt whether I will get the products at all."

Meanwhile, the Chattogram Airport Authority has said that due to the closure of cargo clearance, an image crisis is being created around the airport.

The aviation authorities have said that due to the fact that cargo clearance has been stopped at Chattogram airport, where the cargo village construction project is in progress, the rationale of this project is also being questioned.

Officials said the closure could lead to questions from international aviation organisations regarding the airport's capacity to handle cargo.

Group Captain Taslim Ahmed, director of Chattogram Shah Amanat International Airport, told TBS, "The suspension of cargo clearance has been reported to higher aviation authorities. It will not reflect positively on the airport's image."

Customs authorities have claimed that a racket is misusing baggage rules to bring in commercial goods. In March, the customs officials discovered evidence of undeclared products, including banned cosmetics, being brought in. As a result, it halted the clearance of consignments weighing over 100kg.

C&F agents involved in the clearance of goods at Chattogram airport said that customs can take legal action against the organisations involved in the irregularities. There is no justification for shutting down the entire cargo system because of someone's irregularity.

C&F businessman Imam Hossain said that three tonnes of products from about 100 expatriates have been stuck in the airport warehouse for the past few months. The expatriates sent the goods around Ramadan, but their relatives could not use the goods as they were not cleared by customs.

"I demand that the stalled products be released as soon as possible."

Cargo handling activities at the Chattogram airport started in 2002. Built in 2000, the warehouse has a cargo capacity of 200 tonnes. Shipments arriving at the airport contain more than 350kg of goods. A product shipment consists of products belonging to more than one person.

Explaining the law that allows a reasonable amount of goods, customs said it believes the logical quantity is 100kg.

About 200 tonnes of goods sent by 500 expatriates were stuck due to the suspension of cargo clearance since October last year. On 12 November, The Business Standard published a news report titled "People pay for customs-forwarder dispute as air freight suitcases pile up at Ctg airport".

Subsequently, the customs authorities have allowed for the release of the consignments that were previously stuck. However, due to the delay, the airport earned Tk1.4 crore in warehouse charges in December.

According to the airport's data, its cargo warehouse earned Tk25.54 lakh from import cargo in June 2022. In addition, the revenue was Tk32.22 lakh in July, Tk29.77 lakh in August, Tk21.47 lakh in September, Tk9.84 lakh in October, Tk10.08 lakh in November, and Tk144.35 lakh in December.

Then in January and February, the income fell to Tk4 lakh. The income in March was just Tk40,000.

Similarly, the revenue income has decreased in the air freight unit of the Chattogram Customs House. At the beginning of 2022, the income was more than Tk6 crore per month, but in 2023 it will be Tk20-50 lakh.

Faizur Rahman, commissioner of Chattogram Custom House, could not be reached on his phone.

Naziur Rahman, joint commissioner of the House, said that under the baggage rule, the goods that have been shipped outside the rules cannot be released.