Reconditioned vehicle importers have recently urged the government to fix a duty slab of Tk2 lakh each for the release of around 1,000 units of imported vehicles stranded for long at Mongla port. The cars were imported between 2009 and 2013.
The stuck cars could be released shortly only if the demand is accepted and the cars are exempted from all other taxes and duties, said Bangladesh Reconditioned Vehicle Importers & Dealers Association (BARVIDA).
The association leaders, however, demanded 95% depreciation facility for those cars, if the government did not accept the proposal of Tk2 lakh as fixed duty. The association came up with the latest call during a meeting with finance minister AMA Muhith held yesterday in the capital.
The association made the move as the Prime Ministers’ Office (PMO) on October 7 decided to hand over all the piled up cars at Mongla Port to Bangladesh Police by December 31, this year to help enhance the strength of the force.
However, the PMO decision sparked huge protests among the reconditioned car importers.
They had earlier requested the government to implement the July 2014 order of the PMO that instructed the commerce and shipping ministries and the National Board of Revenue (NBR) to take necessary measures on releasing the stuck cars.
The PMO has recently asked NBR, Bangladesh Bank and Shipping Ministry to provide information related to the cars. The information sought includes-bank liabilities and losses of importers, total amount of customs duty and outstanding duty, port charges and demurrages, waiver of demurrage and other financial and legal aspects of the stuck up vehicles.
Currently, some 2,079 reconditioned cars have remained stuck at the port for years due to various problems including valuation complexities and unauthorised import of more than five-year old cars.
Among them, a total of around 1000 units of reconditioned cars, imported between 2009 and 2013 are remain stuck up at the Mongla Port due to complexities in customs valuation. The association has demanded Tk2 lakh as fixed duty for speedy release of those cars.
For another 512 unit of cars, which are five years old and were imported violating import policy, BARVIDA has suggested the government to provide clearance permit to those cars, so either the importers can release these cars or the custom authorities can arrange the final auction of those cars.
For rest of the cars, that were imported before March 2015, BARVIDA said the importers could not release those cars mainly due to political unrest during that period.
“Release of these cars were delayed due to political turmoil situation in the country,” said the association, urging the government to release these cars through providing normal clearance after the payment of regular duties.