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Bangladesh's new tariff policy slows import

DHAKA: Bangladeshi importers said on Thursday the country's pace of import had slowed after the government introduced a new tariff system at the port of origin.

The government made the pre-shipment inspection (PSI) system compulsory on February 15 to check under-invoicing of commodity imports.

Finance ministry officials said the introduction of PSI would help increase revenue earning from imports by five billion taka ($98 million) annually.

But reconditioned vehicles, government imports and foreign relief goods were exempted from PSI, revenue officials said.

The officials said imports in the first one month after the introduction of PSI had decreased compared to the level in the corresponding period of last year, a customs official at Chittagong Customs House said.

Goods worth 15.78 billion taka ($309 million) were imported from February 15 to March 15, 1999.

"But the volume of import will be much lower this time," he said without giving further details.

"The new system is slowing down imports temporarily. But the pace of import would improve when the importers and inspectors would get used to it," Moazzem Hossain, assistant commissioner of Bangladesh Customs told Reuters.

Enamul Hoque of Yunus and Co said: "It is delaying (imports) because the clean report of finding issued by the inspectors are reaching late to the customs at Bangladesh ports."

Saifuzzaman Chowdhury, acting president of Chittagong Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said industries importing raw materials faced a crisis and urged the authorities to take immediate steps to normalise the supply by easing the PSI system.

The revenue officials said Bangladesh's revenue earnings from imports totalled 75 billion taka ($1.47 billion) in fiscal 1998-99 (July-June).

The country's total imports were worth $8 billion in 1998-99 against $7.5 billion in the previous year.-Reuters