The National Board of Revenue鈥檚 Customs division in a directive made physical inspection mandatory for a dozen imported products through the Benapole Land Port.
The directive, issued on Monday, aims to curb duty evasion and ensure compliance with legal requirements.
The items subject to inspection are assorted goods, all types of fabrics, all types of new and old motor parts (two wheelers, three wheelers, four wheelers, etcetera), bicycle parts, electronic and electrical goods, cosmetics and cosmetic products, machinery and parts imported on commercial concessional basis, industrial parts, medical equipment and surgical goods, imitation jewellery, all types of batteries, all types of tyres and tubes.
Benapole Land Port in Jashore accounts for approximately 90 per cent of India鈥檚 imports to Bangladesh. However, import volumes have been declining in recent years. In FY24, the port handled 17.21 lakh tonnes of goods, a drop of 2.82 lakh tonnes from the previous year.
The Customs House of Benapole has also introduced 10 additional measures to enhance transparency and streamline trade. These include mandatory physical tests for consignments valued at over $40,000 to prevent over-invoicing and supervision of over 20,000 pieces of ready-made garments, such as shirts, pants, T-shirts, and undergarments.
The investigation, research, and management unit of customs will oversee the implementation of these measures, which follow nearly five months after a change in the government regime.
In October, the NBR scrapped the mandatory physical inspections for imports from Pakistan to expedite processes. Previously, all consignments from Pakistan were subjected to 100 per cent manual inspection.