All taxes waived on import of corona safety kits and service materials
The NBR gave the waiver to cut import costs of 17 items to tackle corona outbreak
The revenue board has exempted all taxes on coronavirus safety kits and raw materials to speed up their import.
The items include personal protective equipment (PPE), raw materials for hand sanitisers, coronavirus testing kits, surgical masks and disinfectants.
The customs wing of the National Board of Revenue (NBR) on Sunday issued a statutory regulatory order exempting regulatory duty, supplementary duty, customs duty, advanced tax, advanced income tax and value added tax on 17 items.
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"We offered the waiver to cut import costs of safety items and help boost the local production of safety kits," said a senior NBR official.
In Bangladesh, 27 people already tested positive for the highly contagious Covid-19 that also claimed three lives, according to the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research.
The World Health Organization declared the situation a pandemic as the virus has spread to 186 countries so far.
Following the Covid-19 outbreak, commoners rushed to local markets to buy safety kits, causing a scarcity in the supply.
Many hospitals and doctors complained that there is a shortage of PPE such as gowns, surgical masks, surgical goggles, hand sanitisers and other equipment to attend patients with coronavirus symptoms.
Currently, there are 13,043 PPEs in Bangladesh against the demand of around 10 lakh. The country also has inadequate Covid-19 test kits.
