The two countries concluded their 14th Joint Group of Customs (JGC) meeting in New Delhi on 21-22 August. “The 14th JGC meeting discussed a host of bilateral issues such as opening of new land customs stations, easing port restrictions, development of road and rail infrastructure, pre-arrival exchange of customs data and a bilateral agreement on customs cooperation,” the finance ministry said.
The meeting was co-chaired by member (Customs), Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs, India and Member (Customs: Audit, Modernization and International Trade), National Board of Revenue, Bangladesh.
The India-Bangladesh Joint Group of Customs meetings are held on an annual basis to discuss issues relating to customs cooperation and cross-border trade facilitation. These meetings play a vital role in enhancing connectivity and developing trade infrastructure for smooth customs clearance at land borders, it added.
There are 62 land customs stations (which include land border crossing points, railway stations and river banks/ports) along the India-Bangladesh Border in the States of West Bengal, Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram.
According to the ministry, several trade facilitative measures have been undertaken by India in this context recently such as enabling exports from Bangladesh to India by rail in closed containers, with customs clearance facility at any Inland Container Depot (ICD) vide Circular dated 17th May 2022. This would also help decongest the border trade points. India has facilitated cargo exports from its ICDs to Bangladesh using Inland Waterways, following the circular dated 09 September 2022. The circular dated 14th September 2022 paves the way for the transshipment of containerized export cargo from Bangladesh, destined for third countries, through India using riverine and land routes. In the air cargo sector, the Circular dated 07 February 2023 authorizes the transshipment of Bangladesh’s export cargo to third countries via Delhi Air Cargo.
