Textile millers call for halt to yarn misdeclaration at land ports

In a meeting at the NBR Building in Dhaka today, the Bangladesh Textile Mills Association (BTMA) urged customs authorities to implement stricter measures to prevent misdeclaration of yarn imports through Benapole and four newly approved land customs stations.

Sources of BTMA present in the meeting said BTMA also proposed equipping the customs houses with yarn scanning machines at its own expense to ensure accurate measurement.

BTMA Director Khorshed Alam, who was present at the meeting, told The Business Standard, "New land ports including Bhomra and Sonamasjid open for yarn import, but concerns regarding misdeclaration are yet to be adequately addressed. We stand ready to contribute by providing necessary equipment at our own cost to help curb this issue. A decision from the relevant authorities is awaited."

Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) President Faruque Hassan and Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA) Executive President Mohammed Hatem were also present in the meeting.

Razeeb Haider, another director of BTMA, told TBS, "To address concerns regarding potential misdeclaration at the new land ports, we requested the customs department to implement a stricter import process. The customs department expressed their support for the proposal."

He said, "Unregulated yarn and fabric imports, enabled by misdeclaration due to inadequate inspections, flood the local market, decimating the domestic textile industry's export potential." 

However, according to sources in the meeting, RMG industry leaders voiced opposition to the proposal to stop yarn imports through land customs stations. They questioned why, if such imports are allowed through Chattogram port, a land port itself, they should be restricted at other land crossings?

However, a senior official of National Board of Revenue (NBR), on condition of anonymity, told TBS, "Yarn is not yet being imported through the four new land customs stations. As a result, there is no need to install new machines for yarn calibration."
NBR member Hossain Ahmed presided over the meeting.