Abrar Rahman Arnob

The professional level ICAB manual for Customs is weird. The session-1 overview states something like ‘every country has customs act that denotes their sovereignty’ and I am sitting here, reading it, confused, because I don’t see how customs law is related to sovereignty. I mean, in the broadest of senses, I guess all laws that a country enacts can be considered an expression of that country’s sovereignty, but I digress.

The real reason for my confusion is my ignorance. I know very little about what ‘customs’ is supposed to be. The manual is of no help. It jumps right into ‘Important Sections of the Law’ and does so in Bangla, which is an even bigger problem, but we can think about that later.

Anyway, so, I sat down and tried to figure out what ‘Customs’ is actually supposed to be. This is what I managed to understand so far.

Definition

Customs can broadly be defined as the authority and functions that control and monitor how cross-border goods movements occur. What does that mean? Well, put more succinctly, it is what tells you how you can or cannot move your products across a border. The main goal of the system is to levy taxes or duties upon such movements to ensure that the Government gets its fair share. There are other objectives, but they are not important right now.

A little bit more Details

How does it work then?

Well, the currently enforceable relevant law in Bangladesh is the Customs Act, 2023. This law allows NBR to declare ports and routes and custom ports and routes. Any and all exports and imports from or into the country must take place through these designated places. Customs officials have to approve the movements. Approval requires declaration by the importer or exporter (known as bill of export or bill of entry), along with other relevant documents, and payment of duties.

The process can be cumbersome and complex. A whole industry has emerged out of the necessity to manage this complexity. It is called the clearing and forwarding industry. C&F agents are third parties that take care of the customs clearing requirements and ensures that goods are shipped to their appropriate destination. They serve both importers/exporters and the Government of the jurisdiction they are working in.

Now that I think about it, the session-1 overview was actually kind of correct. It really is an act that denotes (one specific area) of a country’s sovereignty.

Concluding Remarks

Anyway, there’s a lot more to it. There are, in no particular order, HS codes, documentation requirements, licensing requirements, valuation methods, WTO agreements, duty rates, exemption, bond facilities, warehousing, verification, penalties etc. I guess I will tackle these things over the coming days.