NBR brings int’l courier service cos under its rules

The National Board of Revenue has framed for the first time rules to bring the international courier service and mailing operators operating in the country under its regulations following widespread allegations of irregularities including duty evasion against the companies.
The revenue board on August 30 issued the rules titled ‘Courier Service (Customs Assessment) Operation and Licensing Rules, 2016’ under which the courier service companies and mailing operators will have to obtain licences from the customs authorities to run their operations in import and export.
The rules have also imposed penalty for duty evasion and non-compliance of the customs laws by the companies.
The companies will have to pay double amount of applicable duty or minimum Tk 2 lakh for offences related to duty evasion and Tk 50,000 for other offences.
There are allegations against the courier service companies and mailing operators of involvement in duty evasion through over-invoicing and under-invoicing, import and export of prohibited goods for their clients, import and export of goods without declaration and having overweight, and violation of customs act.
Customs authorities also suspect that the companies evade duty through importing gift items and samples in quantity beyond the permitted level.
Customs officials also found that in many cases courier service companies brought illegal goods without proper documents including house airway bill, full and accurate addresses of clients, product name, descriptions of product and other relevant information.
Custom officers in different times seized various kinds of smuggled and prohibited goods including counterfeit currency notes, turtles, drugs, fabrics and gold imported through the courier service companies.
The new rules will bring the activities of the companies under the customs’ scanner through a legal framework, they said.
It will also ensure accountability of the companies to the customs authorities, they added.
Under the rules, the courier service companies will have to obtain licences from the customs commissioners of the respective customs houses and stations.
The tenure of the licences will be three years and the licence holders will have to apply for renewal of the licences before 45 days of expiry.
The commissioners may deny renewing the licences if the companies perform poorly and violate any of the provisions of the rules.
The authorities may also cancel or suspend the licences for violation of the rules, reluctance or lack of skill in discharging duties, import or export products of their clients without declaration or having overweight, cooperation in duty evasion, preparing fake documents for escaping legal provisions and officials, any steps against public interest and not discharging duties imposed by the licensing rules.
The rules instructed to pack documents and other products separately at the time of import.
According to the rules, courier service companies have to give a security deposit to the licensing authorities.
The joint venture companies or 100 per cent foreign-owned companies have to give bond worth Tk 2 crore and fully local companies have to provide bond valued at Tk 50 lakh to the licensing authorities.
According to the rules, counterpart, legal agent or principal in abroad of the courier service company will send the full house airway bill, clients’ and receivers’ names and addresses,
product name and description, sender’s master airway bill or manifest document to the customs computer system through airlines concerned or relevant agents for customs assessment and release of goods.
Customs officials’ approval will be needed on airway bill or manifest to allow handling agent store the imported product in the bonded warehouse of a courier service company and hand over to the company.
Imported products will have to go through product scanners and, if necessary, physical examination at the time of entering in the bonded warehouse of the courier service company.

News Courtesy: www.newagebd.net