| Bangladesh and India are all set to work out a formula to allow entry to their trucks carrying export-import goods to each other's territories via different land ports. At present, trucks of the two countries are allowed by only a few land ports to go across the border for unloading goods, solely through mutual understanding.
Official sources said the National Board of Revenue (NBR) is preparing the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) on behalf of the Bangladesh government, while India has already handed over a draft of SOP to Dhaka.
According to NBR sources, they are also preparing a separate SOP for giving access to Nepali trucks to Bangladesh territory through Fulbari-Banglabandha (Panchaghar) border point. Currently, Bangladeshi trucks are not allowed to enter Nepal through this point, as they have to cross the Indian corridor. Same is the case with Bangladesh-bound Nepali trucks.
Last week, commerce secretaries of Bangladesh and Nepal met in Dhaka and deliberated on trade and transit issues. It was agreed that the Nepalese trucks will be allowed into Bangladesh territory to reach the Mongla Port, and Bangladesh will not charge any entry fees on the Nepalese cargo. However, Bangladesh will be entitled get port fees, labour wages, etc. The other key points of discussion were full-fledged operation of the Kakarbhitta-Panitanki-Phulbari-Banglabandha corridor running through Nepal, India and Bangladesh, and allowing Nepalese trucks into Banglabandha land port.
Bangladesh is also willing to make a separate SOP to make way for Bhutanese trucks, though at present, they are entering Bangladesh via Bhurimari (Lalmonirhat) of the Bangladesh-India border without interference from the Indian side.
In a recent inter-ministerial meeting, officers from various departments, including the Foreign Ministry, NBR and the Bangladesh Land Port Authority (BLPA) or Bangladesh Sthala Bandar Kartripaksha, discussed the present situation of land ports boarding with India and Myanmar.
Sources said the representative of BLPA informed the meeting that currently, the BLPA is operating only Benapole (Jessore) land port with its own management. The land ports of Sonamasjid (Chapai Nawabgonj), Hilli (Dinajpur), Teknaf (Cox's Bazar), Bibirbazaar (Comilla), Bhurimari (Lalmonirhat), Tamabil (Sylhet), Akhaura (Bhahmanbaria) and Bhomra (Satkhira) are running on Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) basis.
The BLPA has also allowed operation of Banglabandha (Panchaghar) and Biral (Dinajpur) land ports on the BOT basis, but they are yet to become fully operational.
The meeting was informed that the government has declared Haluaghat (Mymensingh) as land port, but the NBR has still not declared the port as a custom station. On the other hand, the NBR has declared Ramgar and Tegamukh as LC stations, but still these stations do not have the status of a land port.
Traders of Bangladesh and India had been using Darshana of Chuadanga land port for export-import since long. But since it has only rail connection, the development activities of Darshana port was stopped. The government is now thinking to declare the nearby Jiban Nagar custom station as the alternate land port.
The government has also taken initiative to build infrastructure at Gobdakura and Karoitali LC stations and Bilonia (Feni), which was recently declared as a land port.
The government is also preparing a study report to evaluate which goods were being exported and in what quantity from each land port of Bangladesh. The study will also focus on the condition of infrastructure of the Bangladesh and Indian land ports and the status of communication mechanism there.
The Independent on 18-7-10
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