India-Bangla border trade to come down
Indo-Bangla trade, valued at Rs 6,000 crore per year, will dwindle through the Petrapole-Benapole border check point since the government has made it mandatory for truckers driving into Benapole in Bangladesh to hold passports and visas.
By TNN |
KOLKATA: Indo-Bangla trade, valued at Rs 6,000 crore per year, will dwindle through the Petrapole-Benapole border check point since the government has made it mandatory for truckers driving into Benapole in Bangladesh to hold passports and visas.
The district magistrate of North-24 Parganas in West Bengal has recently issued an order to this effect. Truckers will have to obtain these by 30th September 2006. If they do not have proper documents, they will be denied entry into Bangladesh from January 2007.
"Truckers drive about 1.5 kilometre into Bangladesh to Benapole to deliver the goods after which they return. Indian trucks arrive at Benapole from all over the country and passports for every one of them may not be a viable option. This may lead to shortage of drivers resulting in loss of trade," said I K Ghosh, CCHAA's president at a press conference in the city on Tuesday.
In a parallel development, the Calcutta Customs House Agents' Association (CCHAA) today alleged that certain section of Customs officials have started agitating against the decision taken by the Commissioner of Customs, Port, to do away with the practice of locking containers with bottle seals after Customs' releases these.
"The agitation, following abolition of the sealing system, is now leading to a delay in taking possession of goods arriving at these two ports. We and our clients are suffering as a result," said Mr Ghosh at the press conference.
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"Abolition of the system of using bottle seals was taken with a view to simplify procedural delays. It was aimed at allowing importers to take possession of the consignment as soon as it was cleared by Customs without waiting for its staff to lock with bottle seals. At times such seals are in short supply resulting in unnecessary delay," he said."Introduced long back, there had been a practice, in Kolkata Port, including Haldia, of using bottle seals that after the Customs department releases it, the containers would be locked with bottle seals following which clients and agents could take delivery of these goods.
This is a unique procedure and is not practised anywhere else in India. The Commissioner of Customer has recently down away with the practice," he explained. The Commissioner of Customes, Mr B B Agarwal declined to comment on the issue of seals saying it was internal and he was not aware of any such press conferences.
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