Software slowdown disrupts customs operations nationwide

A major slowdown in ASYCUDA World, the software used by the National Board of Revenue (NBR) for customs clearances, has severely disrupted operations at customs houses across the country, with Chattogram Custom House hit hardest.

For over two weeks, importers, exporters, and clearing agents have struggled to complete customs procedures, as the system remains largely unresponsive. Tasks that once took minutes now take hours, leading to serious backlogs and delays in goods delivery.

The disruption began on 1 July but worsened from 9 July. In response, NBR ordered customs offices, including Chattogram, to operate on weekends. Traders say the effort fell short, as banks and support services remained closed.

At Chattogram alone, nearly 7,000 declarations are filed daily. Due to the system failure, processing has stalled, goods are stranded, and port congestion is growing rapidly.

"Software issues are compounding losses from the recent pen-down strike," said Mosharraf Hossain Bhuiyan, General Secretary of the C&F Agent Employees Union. "Timely shipment is becoming nearly impossible."

C&F agents say server instability is a long-standing problem. "This problem has existed for a while. Despite repeated complaints, no permanent fix has been implemented. Now costs are rising, and ultimately, consumers will bear the burden," said one agent.

Customs officials insist they're working tirelessly. "Even if a 6-hour job now takes 10, we're doing all we can to keep operations running," said one official.

An NBR directive issued on July 10 acknowledged the slowdown and advised weekend operations to reduce trade disruption.

System analysts say the lag was caused partly by memory overloads on official computers. "Server upgrades have been done recently, and the situation has started to improve since 15 July," said Md. Hasan Uz Zaman Khan, system analyst of Chattogram Custom House.