The National Board of Revenue (NBR) has imposed regulatory of 20 percent instead of the existing 0 and 3 percent at import stage on some 135 products under the HS code including fruits, flower, furniture and cosmetics to reduce import of those products and thus saving foreign currency.
NBR officials said such decision has been taken in order to discourage import of such products alongside rebuilding economy following the Covid-19 pandemic and also to reduce dependency on the luxurious items by discouraging unnecessary imports.
In this regard, the National Board of Revenue (NBR) issued a statu tory regulatory order (SRO) on Monday, a NBR press release said on Tuesday.
“Bangladesh cultivates a healthy amount of fruit and flowers,” NBR said. “We have imposed the regulatory duty so that native flower and fruit growers can get a fair price for their products. We will also encourage the cultivation of fruit and flowers. This will benefit small farmers and reduce dependence on imports.”
“The furniture and cosmetics produced in the country are of good quality and are sufficient to meet Bangladesh’s demands.”
The NBR believes the imposition of the tariff in these sectors will aid the development of the domestic industries.
The tariffs will also help save valuable foreign exchange reserves and raise government revenue while discouraging unnecessary imports, NBR added.
At present, the existing import duty on various fruits ranges from 58 percent to 85 percent, of which 3 percent is regulatory duty.
Besides, various types of cosmetics items are also subjected to duty ranging from 104 percent to 127 percent. The import duty on flowers is 58 percent.
Bangladesh mainly imports different types of oranges, apples, grapes, dates, and malta (red orange). Apart from this, new varieties of fruits are being imported in recent years.
The new regulatory tariffs include wood and iron furniture and furniture raw materials at a rate of 20 percent, 30 percent in private cars in CKD condition, 20 percent in pickup and double cabin pickup vans and 15 percent in car engines.
Besides, 3 to 10 percent duty has been imposed on tires, rims and so on.
On the other hand, 20 percent regulatory duty will be imposed on perfumes, hair care products and cosmetics products.
