A total of 11 land customs stations of India and Bangladesh will come under Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) by June to ensure discipline in traffic movement at the ports for facilitating bilateral trade, an official said.
The SOP will expedite export-import of goods and boost bilateral trade as both the countries will follow the same rules and guidelines on vehicle movement through the land border.
A date for introduction of the SOP is scheduled to be finalised next month (on May 11-12) at a commissioner-level coordination meeting of the joint group of customs.
The SOP will be introduced at Agartala, Srimantpur, Muhurighat, Dauki and Gasuapara in India and Akhaura, Bibir Bazar, Belonia, Tamabil, Gobrakura and Koroitoli in Bangladesh, said a senior customs official.
The land customs stations will follow specific rules according to the agreed points of the SOP for vehicle movement through the land ports that was signed in October last.
The meeting of the joint customs group will be held at Shillong of India where Bangladesh will place its six-point agenda.
The customs wing of Bangladesh will propose establishment of 'plant quarantines' at Agartala, Srirampur and Sutarkandi and testing labs at Agartala, Srirampur, Muhurighat (Belonia) and Sutarkandi, the official said.
Customs officials of the Indo-Bangla group will also notify Moheskhola (Ramnathpur), Sibbari (Ghoshgaon) and Kedaraghat as approved routes for bilateral trade, he said.
Operationalisation of Bibir Bazar land port by allowing Indian export cargoes to use the newly developed port facilities will also get priority in the discussion, the customs official said.
Finalisation of the relevant procedures and formalities is necessary before the full-fledged operationalisation of transit facilities for India, the official added.
The joint group of customs sits after every six months to remove tariff and non-tariff barriers in the customs points of the countries.
Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) of India and customs officials of Bangladesh signed the SOP in October, 2010 to expedite loading and unloading of trucks at the customs points and check duty evasion.
After introduction of the SOP, all the goods-laden trucks will follow some rules and furnish some information on a prescribed form that the customs officials need to scrutinise for releasing the products.
The information includes letter of credit (L/C) number, details of goods and the name of land customs stations etc. The forms should be authorised or signed by customs officials of the respective countries.
Officials said land ports are vulnerable to smuggling. They said absence of any guidelines or rules for plying vehicles caused smuggling and duty evasion in the land ports.
News Source: The Financial Express