Customs houses going for limited services

The revenue authority has decided to keep customs houses and stations across the country open on a limited scale during the general holidays till April 4.

The customs division of the National Board of Revenue (NBR) has sent a directive in this regard to all custom houses today.

It has asked the relevant offices to run usual activities with the minimum amount of workforce to help keep on normal export, import of medical and security equipment and activities in export processing zones, said an NBR official.

He also said there was already an announcement to limit operations at customs houses as the country has been on a 10-day general vacation amid the coronavirus spread.

Earlier, the revenue authority on March 25 directed all customs houses and stations to remain open so that a normal supply of essential goods, medical equipment and security materials could be maintained during the vacation.

The authorities concerned shut down all government and non-government offices, except for healthcare and security services, from March 26 to April 4.

Along with that, all sorts of public transportation services such as road, railway, water and air have been closed to stop community spread of the virus.

According to NBR sources, currently there are six customs houses in the country: Chattogram, Dhaka, Mongla, Inland Container Depot Kamalapur, Benapole, and Pangaon. Additionally, there are two Customs Bond Commissionerate offices in Dhaka and Chattogram.

There are also Customs Intelligence and Investigation Directorate and Customs Valuation and Internal Audit Commissionerate offices in Dhaka.

Furthermore, there are customs stations at 14 land ports at different points beside the border with India, which operate under the Customs, Excise and VAT Commissionerate offices.