Enrolment-certificate tenure for exporters is being extended from existing one year to five years to enhance the ease of doing business, particularly to facilitate preferential extort trade.
The Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) has decided to extend the tenure of its enrolment certificate for exporters who need it to avail preferential market access under GSP facilities and treaties of different blocs, sources said.
Exporters currently need to get their enrolment certificate renewed every year to avail services from the bureau.
The EPB now decided that the tenure of the certificate will be up to five years but the exporters will have the choice to avail registration as per their will, the sources added.
An exporter in his or her application will mention for how many years they need the enrolment. Fees will be charged as per the tenure and the value-added tax will be realized accordingly.
The EPB provides various types of services to the exporters which include issuance of generalized scheme of preference (GSP) certificate, South Asian Free Trade Area (Safta) certificate, Saarc Preferential Trading Arrangement (Sapta) certificate, Asia-Pacific Trade Agreement (Apta certificate, and services linked to Registered Exporter (REX) system.
These certificates are required for exporters to avail duty benefits under various tariff facilities offered by developing and developed countries to least-developed Bangladesh to help its economy grow.
And, according to officials concerned, an up-to-date enrolment certificate at the EPB is mandatory for exporters to get services from the trade facilitator.
