RMG exporters push Ctg port, customs for smooth shipping before Eid

Garment exporters have called upon the Chattogram port and customs authorities to take necessary steps to cope with the increased pressure of shipping consignments ahead of the upcoming Eid-ul-Fitr.

The Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association, in a letter, placed an 11-point proposal before the Chattogram Port Authority (CPA) to this end.

The proposals include allotting separate space at the port jetty for export cargo containers, increasing berthing facilities and introducing a new shipping service on the Europe-America route.

In a separate letter, the association placed a 10-point proposal before the customs authorities that include facilitating speedy customs clearance of export goods

On 30 March, BGMEA First Vice-President Syed Nazrul Islam wrote separately to the CPA chairman and the Chattogram Customs House commissioner.

According to garment manufacturers, usually, there remains an additional load of shipping apparel before Eid. Piles of export cargo containers accumulate in inland container depots. Thousands of truck-covered vans carrying export goods from different parts of the country are stuck at the entrances of ICDs. The shipping of export goods creates a chaotic situation.

On top of that, this time the economic disaster in Sri Lanka has caused a crisis at the Colombo port due to various reasons, such as the fuel crisis. After reaching Colombo port with a feeder vessel from Chattogram port, it takes more than three days to re-ship mother vessels, they added.

Therefore, if the necessary steps are not taken now to cope with the increased pressure of Eid, it will be difficult to send goods to foreign buyers at the right time, said businessmen in this sector.

Syed Nazrul Islam said if the goods are sent after Eid, there is a possibility of missing ships because after Eid, off-dock activities take time to become normal.

"Truck-covered vans stay on roads outside the ICDs for five to 10 days. As a result, the rent of covered vans increased at an unusual rate. In this case, it is necessary to employ adequate labour and necessary equipment and not to book shipments of goods in excess of the capacity," he added.

Chattogram Port Authority Secretary Mohammad Omar Farooq said talks were underway with Portugal and the UAE on direct shipping. In addition, coordination of various stakeholder organisations of the port has been done as per a proposal of the BGMEA for the shipping of export goods.

The other BGMEA proposals are reducing the stay of ships in the outer harbour, conducting activities in coordination with customs, BGMEA, private ICDs, shipping agents, freight forwarders and C&F agents under the supervision of the port authorities.

Stating that Maersk Line, a shipping company, receives extra bookings for the transportation of export goods ahead of Eid, the garment makers called for arranging adequate feeder ships on the Chattogram-Colombo and Chattogram-Singapore routes.

BGMEA requested the port authorities to reduce the reliance on some private ICDs for handling export goods and to direct shipping lines to operate in other private ICDs as well.

BGMEA's other proposals to the customs authorities include simplification of goods inspection activities, deploying adequate customs officers at the jetty for unloading of goods on Friday and Saturday and arranging the opening of freight forwarder and shipping agents' offices for the collection of the bank, delivery order at the jetty and ensuring presence of customs officers in private ICDs after 10pm. ***