Dry cell battery export to India faced with difficulties
Bdnews, Dhaka
Exporters of dry cell battery are facing difficulties to reap benefit of duty free facility for the item's export to India due to a discrepancy between notification of Indian government and its customs act, sources concerned said. Due to the problem, local dry cell exporters have to pay 50 percent duty to export the product to the neighbouring country. The product was allowed a duty free access by the government of India following a bilateral trade declaration held in April 2002. A total of 40 Bangladeshi items, including dry cell battery, were entitled to duty free facility under the South Asian Preferential Trading Arrangement (SAPTA). Later, on August 20, 2002, the government of India made the duty free facility effective through a customs notification. However, it mentioned in the said notification for the duty free facility of dry cell battery was inserted wrongly and it stands for spare parts of the item. "We were enjoying duty free export facility against our product using the mentioned HS code in the notification. Recently the customs of India has imposed 50 percent duty on it, saying that the HS code mentioned in the notification does not stand for dry cell battery," Mahbubul Alam, General Manager of the Quasem Drycells, Ltd told the news agency. "Our exports to India are facing difficulties due to this deadlock. We are not responsible for it. The government of India should change its HS code in notification and allow us to export under its announced facility," he said. He said his company had informed the matter to several departments of the government of Bangladesh and India such as Ministry of Commerce, Export Promotion Bureau (EPB), Tariff Commission and Bangladesh High Commission to India. The company also placed the issue to the Indian High Commission here and Indian Customs. But none took the issue seriously and no development is still seen, he said, adding that export orders worth US$ one million have remained pending now. Alam said, "At last, we have sought assistance from the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) on May 30." When asked, EPB Vice-chairman Mir Shahabuddin Mohammad told the news agency that they had informed the matter to the government of India through the high commission. "We will place the matter along with other non-tariff barriers at the joint working committee meeting of India and Bangladesh which is expected to take place next month in Delhi," he said.
| 
