Banks asked to mention details of imported goods for opening LCs

The Bangladesh Bank has instructed the commercial banks through a circular to provide details of the imported goods while opening letters of credit (LCs) so that the imported products' prices can be verified properly.

A senior official of the central bank told TBS, "We have observed that many traders import five types of products but do not mention their import prices separately. They want to import all the products by calculating the total units and mentioning the average price per unit. It cannot continue like this.

"Therefore, in the new instructions, we have said the prices of the products to be imported should be mentioned according to the quality of each product, so that we can verify whether their prices are correct according to the international market price list."

According to the circular, full details of the imported products, their quality, brand, date of manufacture, packaging information, grade by which the quality of the product can be distinguished, price, and quantity per unit must be mentioned while opening the letters of credit.

The information must also be mentioned in case of importing multiple goods through the same Proforma Invoice (PI).

Besides, in case of importing different goods together, all the products should be presented in specific units applicable to their nature rather than in generalised units like kilogram, litre or piece.

Incoterms, a set of rules approved by the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), and transport fares have to be duly mentioned, according to the circular.

Moreover, the eight digits of the "Harmonised System Code" must be mentioned in full to specifically identify the products to be imported.

The Harmonised System Codes, accepted by the majority of nations around the world, are identification codes given to goods for use in international trade.