In light of the ongoing crisis in the country, a policy decision has been made to waive the demurrage charges imposed during the clearance of imported goods for the garment industry at Chittagong Port, following a request from the BGMEA.
On July 28, 2024, a delegation from the BGMEA, led by its President S. M. Mannan (Kochi), met with the Honorable State Minister for Shipping, Khalid Mahmud Chowdhury, at his office in the Secretariat. During the meeting, the delegation requested the waiver of the port demurrage charges, and a policy decision was made in this regard.
The BGMEA delegation included First Vice President Syed Nazrul Islam, Senior Vice President Khandaker Rafiqul Islam, Vice President Rakibul Alam Chowdhury, Director Ashiqur Rahman (Tuhin), and Director Md. Mohiuddin Rubel.
It is worth noting that due to the ongoing crisis, curfew, and lack of online connectivity at the port and customs servers, the unloading of goods from ships at Chittagong Port has been disrupted. As a result, garment exporters have been unable to clear their goods on time, leading to congestion at the port and the imposition of additional demurrage charges on the imported goods as per the existing rules.
In this context, the BGMEA delegation, led by President S. M. Mannan (Kochi), met with the Honorable State Minister for Shipping today. They requested the expedited clearance of the waiting containers for the garment sector without the imposition of port demurrage charges to ensure uninterrupted import-export activities and timely export of goods within the buyers’ lead time.
Currently, a significant number of import containers are waiting for clearance at Chittagong Port, most of which are related to the garment industry. To date, approximately BDT 10 crore in port demurrage charges have been imposed on garment exporters.
The Honorable State Minister for Shipping, highlighting the contribution of the garment industry to the national economy, assured that his ministry is always ready to provide all possible assistance to the garment sector.
