IMPORT POLICY ORDER 2015-2018 Ministry of Commerce Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh Import Policy Order, 2015-2018 CONTENTS SI. No. Chapter Subject Page No. ~ I 1. Chapter One Prelude 1 2. Chapter Two General Provisions for Import 3 3. Chapter Three Fees Regarding Imports 13 4. Chapter Four Miscellaneous Provisions 16 5. Chapter Five General Provisions for Industrial Import 28 6. Chapter Six The Rules of Import By Commercial Importers 40 7. Chapter Seven Import by Public Sector Importers 53 8. Chapter Eight Import Trade Control (ITC) Committee 55 9. Chapter Nine Compulsory Membership of recognised 56 Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Trade Association. (The Import Policy Order, 2015-2018 has been published both in Bengali and English Languages. If there is any inconsistency between the two versions the Bengali text will prevail) GOVERNMENT OF THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF BANGLADESH MINISTRY OF COMMERCE ORDER Date: 28 Magh, 1422 BE/10 February, 2016 A.D S.R.O. No. 28-Ain/2016.-In exercise of the powers conferred by section 3 (1) of the Imports and Exports (Control) Act, 1950 (Act No. XXXIX of 1950), the Government is pleased to make and issue the following order, namely:- CHAPTER ONE Prelude 1. Short title, application, duration, etc.- (l)This Order may be called the Import Policy Order, 2015-2018. (2) Unless otherwise specified, this Order shall apply to import all kinds of goods into Bangladesh. (3) It shall come into force immediately and shall remain in force up to 30th June, 2018: Provided that it shall remain in force after expiry of such date until a new Import Policy Order is issued. (4) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Order, if any notification, circular or order regarding any specific provision for import is issued from time to time under the Finance Act or any other law, such provision shall prevail over it, subject to not being consistent with this Order. 2. Definitions.- In this order, unless there 1s anything repugnant to the subject or context- ( 1) "entre-port trade" means such trade in case of which imported goods are exported to a third country at a price minimum 5% higher without any change including their quality, quantity or shape and without allowing the said goods to be brought outside the port area, but may be carried, with the prior permission of the Ministry of Commerce, from one port to another port through any other port for the purpose of exports; (2) "Act" means, the Imports and Exports (Control) Act, 1950 (Act No. XXXIX of 1950); 1 (3) "importer" means the importer as defined in article 2(f) of the Importers, Exporters and Indentors (Registration) Order, 1981; ( 4) "Import Control Authority" means the Chief Controller and also i ,, eludes any other officer authorized to issue licenses, permits or registration certifi'-. tes as per the relevant provisions of different rules and orders issued under this Act; (5) "basis of import" means the percentage, rate or formula adopted for determining the share of a registered importer; (6) "import value" means the CFR value of imported goods for entre-port trade or re­ export; (7) "indentor" means an indentor as defined in article 2(g) of the Importers, Exporters and Indentors (Registration) Order, 1981; (8) "H.S. Code Number" means the H.S. Code compnsmg eight or more digits pertaining to classification of commodities; (9) "LC" or "Letter of Credit" means letter of credit opened for the purpose of import under this Order; (10) "LC Authorization (LCA) Form" means the form prescribed for authorization of opening LC; (11) "Clearing and Forwarding Agent (C&F Agent)" or "Freight Forwarder (FF)" means a person or an organization acting as C&F agent or as FF: Provided that such person or organization must possess TIN and all activities of the said organization must be computerized; (12) "food products" means food products fit for human consumption directly or after processmg; (13) "registered importer" means an importer registered under the Importers, Exporters and indentors (Registration) Order, 1981; (14) "list of controlled goods" means the list of goods, import of which is controlled, set out in the table of annexure-1; ( 15) "goods" means the goods specified in the First Schedule of Customs Act, 1969 (Act No. IV of 1969); (16) "annexure" means an annexure appended to this order; 2 ( 17) "permit" means an authorization, import permit, clearance permit, import permit on returnable basis, export permit or export-cum-import permit, as the case may be, issued by Import Control Authority; (18) "Sponsoring Authority" means any administrative authority, organization, Department or Directorate that control industries of special class or sector, which fall under the purview of the functions of its parent Ministry according to the Schedule-I of Rules of Business (Allocation of Business); ( 19) "re-export" means export of any imported item within specific period with at least 10% value addition to the import value after reprocessing the said imported item locally by changing either its quality or shape or both; (20) "actual user" means a person, group of persons, institution, body or organization, other than registered importers, that may import a permissible item (not being an industrial raw material requiring further processing before being used or consumed) in limited quantity for his or its own use or consumption but not for sale or transfer; (21) "Chief Controller" means the Chief Controller as defined in section 2(a) of the Imports and Exports (Control) Act, 1950; (22) "expatriate Bangladeshi" means foreign exchange earning Bangladeshi citizens working or living abroad; (23) "commercial importer" means an importer registered under the Importers, Exporters and Indentors (Registration) Order, 1981 who imports goods for sale without re-processing; (24) "fish or livestock or bird's feed" means the feeds which are directly imported as feed for Fish or Livestock or Bird after processing; (25) "importer for lease financing" means an importer registered, as special case, under the Importers, Exporters and Indentors (Registration) Order, 1981 approved by the Government for provision of lease financing to the industrial, energy, mmmg, agricultural, construction, transport and professional service sector; (26) "industrial consumer" means industrial unit registered as an Industrial importer under the Importers, Exporters and Indentors (Registration) Order, 1981 which is 100% Bangladeshi industrial unit and a foreign investor registered with relevant sponsoring authority; 3 (27) "public sector importer" means government organizations or institutes, statutory bodies, corporations and public universities; (28) "plant and plant product" means plant species or products originah>, from plant or live and dead portion of plant with seeds, reproductive of plant source germplasm, processed or unprocessed source of plant which for their characteristics or for the process able to carry, transmit and spread diseases and packing materials and cotton; (29) "ad-hoe industrial IRC" means ad-hoe industrial IRC issued by the Import controlling authority on the basis of the recommendation of the concerned sponsoring authority in favour of newly established industries for importing their raw materials, packaging materials and accessories (except goods listed in the restricted list or products restricted under various articles); and (30) "Currency" means the currency as defined in the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act, 1947 (Act No. VII of 1947). 4 CHAPTER TWO General Provisions for Import 3. Regulation of import.---{l) Import of goods under this Order shall be regulated as follows: (a) unless otherwise specified in this Order, the goods banned for import mentioned in the list of controlled goods ( annexure-1) shall not be importable: Provided that, those goods which are importable subject to fulfillment of certain conditions shall be importable on fulfillment of those conditions; (b) except the goods specified in sub-clause (a), all other goods are importable freely. (2) While determining the import status of an item mentioned in the list of controlled goods (annexure-1), if any discrepancy arises between the concerned H.S. Code and the description of item, the description of the item shall prevail. Explanation.- For the purpose of this article, the goods mentioned in part B of the list of controlled goods ( annexure-1) shall be treated as goods banned for import. 4. Conditions for regulating import.-If the import of an item had been restricted before coming into effect of this Order, or if such restriction has been made effective due to the inclusion of the item in the list of controlled goods or due to imposition of any other provision, then such restriction shall be subject to the following conditions, namely:- (a) in case any restriction is imposed on import of a particular commodity with a view to protecting the interest of a local industry, the concerned sponsoring authority or Bangladesh Tariff Commission shall strictly monitor production of that industrial unit regularly; (b) the protected industry, specially which are engaged in "assembling type" activities, shall have to actively and expeditiously move towards progressive manufacturing; (c) except due to the rise of price of raw materials or the decline in the rate of exchange, if the price of an item increases or the price of finished product increases disproportionately than the rise in the price of the raw materials in the international market, the ban on the import may be revoked on the recommendation of the concerned sponsoring authority or Bangladesh Tariff Commission; (d) goods from Israel or goods produced in that country and also goods carried in the flag vessels of that country shall not be importable; ( e) if anyone is aggrieved by any decision regarding ban or restriction on import of any item, that person or organization may submit his representation to the Bangladesh Tariff Commission, and the Bangladesh Tariff Commission shall duly examine such a representation and furnish its recommendation to the Ministry of Commerce for consideration.