Cargoes as well as passenger-carrying and personal vehicles from Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal will be able to travel across each other’s borders from next January, Road Transport Minister Obaidul Quader has said.
The vehicles will cross borders in accordance with the BBIN motor vehicle agreement, the minister told reporters at the secretariat yesterday.
“A combined working group formed with representatives from the four nations met in Dhaka on September 8 and 9, and decided unanimously to allow [cross-border travel of] passenger and personal vehicles. They also prepared the draft protocol for movement of passenger and personal vehicles under the BBIN motor vehicle agreement,” Obaidul said.
However, sources at the Road Transport and Highways Division said delegates from the four countries – known as BBIN for their initials – are yet to agree on a draft protocol for operating cargo vehicles by the January deadline.
A number of problems, including cross-border policy and immigration and customs system, have been identified against the operation of cargo vehicles, the sources said.
So the working group has decided to launch a trial run for cargo vehicles before meeting again to reach a final decision, the sources at Road Transport Division said.
When asked about a potential date for launching cargo vehicle operations, Obaidul Quader said: “The proposed route for operating cargo vehicles has been affected by heavy rain. So, the working group has decided that a trial run for cargo vehicles will be held in October to take quick preparation for a draft protocol.”
Pointing out reasons behind the delay, Road Transport and Highway Division Secretary MAN Siddique said: “Immigration and custom policy are also causing delays in preparing the draft protocol for cargo vehicles.”
On June 15, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal signed the BBIN motor vehicle agreement to ensure movement of passengers and goods among the four countries.
According to the agreement framework, the combined working group are supposed to conclude all formalities by December and passenger-carrying and cargo vehicles are supposed to start operating in January next year.
Meanwhile, the BBIN working group has reportedly also agreed to ease the visa issuance system for each other’s citizens, and held discussions on settling a policy on passenger movement, customs procedures, volume of passengers, transit fees, routes, insurance etc.
The road transport minister said a secretary-level meeting will be held in Dhaka on October 6 to discuss how to ease the visa system; he expressed hopes that the meeting would produce positive outcomes.
The four countries will also stage a car rally between November 14 and December 1 in order to promote the launch of the cross-border vehicle movement, Obaidul Quader added.
