Exporters struggle as customs bond automation triggers delays

A move by the National Board of Revenue to mandate full automation for exporters' raw material usage and activities from 1 January has apparently backfired, with businesses reporting severe software glitches, systemic delays, and a persistence of the very harassment the system was designed to eliminate.

While the NBR claims these issues are minor teething problems that will be resolved over time, exporters argue that the Customs Bond Management System was launched without adequate preparation. In some instances, approval processes that were supposed to be streamlined are now taking over a fortnight, causing many to miss LC deadlines.

Saleudh Zaman Khan, managing director of NZ Apparel, told TBS, "It is taking up to two weeks to secure a UP (utility permission). Consequently, LC deadlines are expiring, and we cannot supply local garment manufacturers on time, which ultimately hampers the country's final exports."

Exporters are allowed to import raw materials duty-free under the bonded warehouse facility. Even when raw materials are sourced locally, suppliers must obtain a UP from the Customs Bond Commissionerate to confirm that goods produced from imported inputs have been fully exported. The bond office verifies data from Bangladesh Bank and NBR units before issuing approval.

Previously, the process was manual, which businesses said left room for irregularities and harassment.

Industry insiders cite several problems with the bond automation, including the absence of Bangladesh Bank's dashboard integration, lack of coordination with the NBR's duty drawback office, unusually slow performance, missing bills of entry, and incomplete display of raw material data.

While Mohammad Hasmat Ali, commissioner of Customs Bond Commissionerate (Dhaka South), maintained that only "minor issues" are being addressed, a senior official from the Dhaka North office admitted that the problems are significant enough that staff are occasionally forced to revert to manual solutions.

Responding to questions at a press conference on Sunday, NBR Chairman Abdur Rahman Khan admitted there were initial complexities but said these would be corrected over time.

Some business leaders also suggested that resistance from a section of customs officials – particularly at junior levels – and certain commercial officers within exporting firms may be contributing to the difficulties. They alleged that automation has reduced opportunities for "undue advantages" for some under the manual system, creating reluctance to fully embrace the digital process.