Exporters and different trade bodies expressed concern over unnecessary delay in issuing the circular, saying export and import may again face a deadlock if the foreign operators refuse to take the certificates.

The Department of Shipping yesterday convened a meeting to chalk out the nitty-gritty for implementing the new law with its Director General AKM Ahsanul Azim in the chair.

"But the meeting failed to take any concrete decision," said a source who attended the meeting.

He said the law, which was amended in the Jatiya Sangsad, should be enforced immediately but the authorities concerned are unnecessarily delaying and making the issue complicated.

"We need some time for changing the rules. Otherwise, it may be challenged in the court again," Shipping Minister Akbar Hossain told The Daily Star yesterday when asked about the delay.

He mentioned that the main law has not been amended. The amendment has exempted the foreign vessel operators from taking waiver certificates for only two years.

The parliament on July 9 passed The Bangladesh Flag Vessels (Amendment) Act, 2003 suspending for two years the provision that forces the foreign flag vessels to take waiver certificates for loading and unloading cargoes at Bangladesh ports.

Shippers think the amendment would help create a level playing field for both local and foreign ship operators.

Following the passage of the law, vessels registered in Bangladesh would no longer enjoy priority over foreign-registered vessels in carrying cargoes from seaports in Bangladesh.

The Act was notified on July 12 in a gazette which mentioned that the act would be effective immediately.

"It is very unfortunate that the law is not being enforced. Unnecessary delay in implementing the law seriously damages our image to the foreign buyers," SM Nurul Hoque, acting president of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) told The Daily Star.

President of Chittagong Chamber of Commerce and Industry Amir Humayun Mahmud Chowdhury recently expressed his concern over delay in issuing the ministry circular.

He faxed a letter of appeal to the prime minister, stating that the foreign operators are still being forced to take the waiver certificate as the Ministry of Shipping did not issue the circular.

If the authorities concerned do not issue the circular shortly, the foreign vessel operators would not take waiver certificate and the export and import face deadlock again, Chowdhury mentioned.