Bangladesh decision to remove physical inspection of Pakistani goods may lead to export of illegal items

NBR sources said the criterion was not applied to goods imported from any country other than Pakistan. Now, similar to the procedure for imports from other countries, Pakistani goods will undergo physical examination based on risk assessment, according to a notification issued by the revenue board on 29 September.

A senior official from the relevant department of NBR,said, “Due to the mandatory physical examination of all goods imported from Pakistan, we had to deploy additional staff. Certain products typically do not require a physical examination, but those items were being examined, even though no irregularities were found.”

In FY 2022-23, Bangladesh’s imports exceeded $68 billion, of which goods imported from Pakistan amounted to $699 million. Exports to Pakistan were around $74 million during the period. Most of the imported goods consist of raw materials for the garment industry.

According to the Pakistan Business Council, in addition to cotton, the list of goods imported from Pakistan includes salt, sulphur, earths and stones, plastering materials, lime, edible vegetables, raw hides and skins, machinery, inorganic chemicals, man-made staple fibres, plastics, tanning or dyeing extracts, and edible fruits and nuts.

But Pakistan economy is not in shape to boost Bangladesh economy in any form and there are fears of illegal items being transferred from Pakistan to Bangladesh. This will raise security concerns in Eastern and NE India.