The government is reviewing the existing bonded warehouse facility in a bid to expand it to non-readymade garment exporters, says the chief of National Board of Revenue (NBR).
Bonded warehouses allow exporters to import and store their raw materials without paying duties for a certain period of time until those are used in manufacturing products to be exported.
Speaking at an event in Dhaka organised by Economic Reporters’ Forum (ERF) on Sunday (May 5), NBR Chairman Mosharraf Hussain Bhuiyan said it’s about time Bangladesh diversifies its export-basket and expand duty-free facility to other export sectors, reports BSS.
“Around 85 percent of the export is dependent on RMG export thanks to policy support of the government,” the state news agency quoted him saying.
Leather and jute exporters are in the priority list for expansion of bonded warehouse facility, added the NBR boss.
Urging the media to report on abuse of bonded warehouse facility, Bhuiyan said that local industries were suffering by duty-free products flooding the market due to unscrupulous businesses.
Responding to a query, he said punitive measures has been taken against some 30 companies in Dhaka and 29 companies in Chattogram in recent months for abusing of bonded warehouse facility.