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Regular transit now becomes trial one
Creating more confusion over a sensitive issue, the government yesterday claimed all Indian goods, brought in from Kolkata on three ships and now being transported to Agartala through Akhaura Land Port, is part of trial transit.
The government allowed two ships--Indian Homi Bhabha and Bangladeshi Gulf 4--to carry goods of trial transit using the Ashuganj River Port.
But another vessel, MV Nilkantha arrived with goods which put port and customs officials in a dilemma over what to label them for transporting them to Agartala. Even though documents said the goods were of transit/transhipment they branded them as imported goods and later re-branded them as export goods.
However, Shipping Secretary Abul Mannan Hawlader yesterday said the problem over the goods carried by Nilkantha was due to a mistake on the transport agent's part. Indo-Bangla Shipping Lines, a Bangladeshi transport organisation, is the local agent to carry goods of Nilkantha from Ashuganj River Port to Akhaura Land Port.
All are trial transit goods. Regular transit only after completion of the trial run and its impact assessment, claimed Mannan after an inter-ministerial meeting at the shipping ministry yesterday.
Mannan ruled out more trial transit ships and said the government was expanding the land port capacity so that transit goods do not hamper the operations of the port.
Yesterday's meeting was convened to remove confusion over the nature of the transit goods and to learn about the problems different government agencies are facing in transporting goods to Agartala. Representatives of foreign and communications ministries, NBR, customs and BIWTA attended the meeting.
Many told the meeting that port facilities and the road conditions are not suitable for transporting transit goods. They said they were facing various difficulties in this regards, meeting sources said.
The shipping secretary said charges will be imposed on transporting of regular transit items. Experts will fix the charges soon, he added.
The trial transit is being carried out under the Protocol on Inland Water Transit and Trade, 2010. According to the protocol Indian and Bangladeshi ships carried goods from Kolkata to Ashuganj River Port and from there Bangladeshi trucks carried the goods to Akhaura Land Port. Indian trucks finally took the goods to Agartala from Akhaura.
On May 31 last year, Bangladesh and India amended the Protocol on Inland Water Transit and Trade and included Ashuganj as the fifth port of call in Bangladesh and Shilghat as a port of call for Bangladeshi goods on the Indian side.
Indian ship Homi Bhabha was first to bring 305 tonnes of galvanised steel sheets on September 1 while Gulf-4 brought in 866 tonnes on October 3. National Board of Revenue (NBR) issued two orders allowing the two ships to carry trial transit items.
But MV Nilkantha, which had 621 tonnes of iron bars, arrived at the Ashuganj River Port on September 29, five days ahead of the second trial ship. Since there was no NBR order about this ship, port and custom officials did not know how to transport the goods.
Later, NBR issued a letter terming the goods of Nilkantha transit-transshipment items. It also asked the port authorities that Bangladeshi trucks will unload the goods in Agartala in India, instead of Akhaura Land Port in Bangladesh. Accordingly, nine Bangladeshi trucks unloaded 157 tonnes of iron bars in Agartala.
However, in a telephonic order later on, NBR asked the Akhaura Land Port authorities that the goods will be unloaded at the port, not in Agartala.
Creating more confusion over a sensitive issue, the government yesterday claimed all Indian goods, brought in from Kolkata on three ships and now being transported to Agartala through Akhaura Land Port, is part of trial transit.
The government allowed two ships--Indian Homi Bhabha and Bangladeshi Gulf 4--to carry goods of trial transit using the Ashuganj River Port.
But another vessel, MV Nilkantha arrived with goods which put port and customs officials in a dilemma over what to label them for transporting them to Agartala. Even though documents said the goods were of transit/transhipment they branded them as imported goods and later re-branded them as export goods.
However, Shipping Secretary Abul Mannan Hawlader yesterday said the problem over the goods carried by Nilkantha was due to a mistake on the transport agent's part. Indo-Bangla Shipping Lines, a Bangladeshi transport organisation, is the local agent to carry goods of Nilkantha from Ashuganj River Port to Akhaura Land Port.
All are trial transit goods. Regular transit only after completion of the trial run and its impact assessment, claimed Mannan after an inter-ministerial meeting at the shipping ministry yesterday.
Mannan ruled out more trial transit ships and said the government was expanding the land port capacity so that transit goods do not hamper the operations of the port.
Yesterday's meeting was convened to remove confusion over the nature of the transit goods and to learn about the problems different government agencies are facing in transporting goods to Agartala. Representatives of foreign and communications ministries, NBR, customs and BIWTA attended the meeting.
Many told the meeting that port facilities and the road conditions are not suitable for transporting transit goods. They said they were facing various difficulties in this regards, meeting sources said.
The shipping secretary said charges will be imposed on transporting of regular transit items. Experts will fix the charges soon, he added.
The trial transit is being carried out under the Protocol on Inland Water Transit and Trade, 2010. According to the protocol Indian and Bangladeshi ships carried goods from Kolkata to Ashuganj River Port and from there Bangladeshi trucks carried the goods to Akhaura Land Port. Indian trucks finally took the goods to Agartala from Akhaura.
On May 31 last year, Bangladesh and India amended the Protocol on Inland Water Transit and Trade and included Ashuganj as the fifth port of call in Bangladesh and Shilghat as a port of call for Bangladeshi goods on the Indian side.
Indian ship Homi Bhabha was first to bring 305 tonnes of galvanised steel sheets on September 1 while Gulf-4 brought in 866 tonnes on October 3. National Board of Revenue (NBR) issued two orders allowing the two ships to carry trial transit items.
But MV Nilkantha, which had 621 tonnes of iron bars, arrived at the Ashuganj River Port on September 29, five days ahead of the second trial ship. Since there was no NBR order about this ship, port and custom officials did not know how to transport the goods.
Later, NBR issued a letter terming the goods of Nilkantha transit-transshipment items. It also asked the port authorities that Bangladeshi trucks will unload the goods in Agartala in India, instead of Akhaura Land Port in Bangladesh. Accordingly, nine Bangladeshi trucks unloaded 157 tonnes of iron bars in Agartala.
However, in a telephonic order later on, NBR asked the Akhaura Land Port authorities that the goods will be unloaded at the port, not in Agartala.
