In a step towards global trade compliance, the National Board of Revenue (NBR) has undertaken a comprehensive review of Bangladesh's tariff regime, identifying 60 tariff lines where current customs duties and associated charges surpass the bound rates established in the World Trade Organization (WTO) agreements. As part of its initial measures, customs duties on 6 items have been reduced, signaling Bangladesh's commitment to aligning its trade practices with international standards. The initiative, detailed in an official document, sets forth a plan to gradually adjust these rates to fall within the WTO-agreed bound tariffs by 2026. Bound tariffs represent the maximum most-favored nation (MFN) tariff rate a country commits to at the WTO, serving as a ceiling that applied tariffs cannot exceed. This regulatory framework ensures that trade policies remain predictable and stable, providing security for traders and investors. NBR’s three-pronged strategy to boost revenue collection Countries typically negotiate bound tariffs during their accession to the WTO or through subsequent trade negotiations, setting these rates higher than their applied tariffs to retain policy flexibility. However, exceeding these bound rates without proper adjustments can lead to international disputes and demands for compensation, emphasizing the importance of adherence. The recalibration effort by Bangladesh reflects a broader trend among WTO members, where developed, developing, and transitioning economies have significantly increased the proportion of imports with bound tariff rates, enhancing global market stability. Additionally, the government has resolved to eliminate the minimum import price requirement, already removing it from 55 items with a strategic plan to phase it out entirely from the remaining 130 products by 2026. This move aims to simplify the import process and foster a more competitive market environment. The document outlines a cautious approach to tariff reduction, ensuring that local industries are not adversely affected and that revenue mobilization remains robust. The NBR's strategy involves a careful balancing act, prioritizing the protection of domestic sectors while advancing the country's export competitiveness. NBR collects nearly Tk 2 lakh crore in 7 months, growth over 15% This progressive adjustment of customs duties and the abolition of the minimum import price underscore Bangladesh's efforts to integrate more seamlessly into the global trading system, promoting economic growth and development in alignment with WTO commitments.

Electricity tariff was raised further in Bangladesh at both retail level with effect from Wednesday (March 1). The Power Division — through administrative order in a gazette notification — raised the tariff. “Power tariff was raised by 5 percent”, power secretary Habibur Rahman told UNB. This has been the third time in a row in two months, the power tariff was raised, average 5 percent in retail level on every occasion. According to the new order, the retail tariff was raised at different levels of consumers. The tariff was raised for lower-level consumers by an average 5 percent to Tk 4.35 from Tk 4.14 (each kilowatt hour) per unit. Bulk tariff was not raised this time. Also Read: Power tariff further raised at both bulk and retail levels, effective from tomorrow Earlier on January 13, the government raised the electricity tariff by 5 percent at the retail level with effect from January 1 and on January 12 raised again by 5 percent with effect from February 1. On November 21, the bulk power tariff was hiked by 20 percent to Tk 6.20 per kilowatt hour by Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC) with effect from December 1. The government recently amended the BERC Act empowering the Power Division to raise power, gas and petroleum fuel by administrative power anytime it wants. Also Read: Retail power tariff hiked 5% to Tk0.19 per unit for lifeline consumers, Tk0.36 on average for others Applying that amended Act, the new gazette notification was issued to raise the electricity tariff at bulk and retail levels, bypassing the authorities of the energy regulator. Meanwhile, energy experts believe the tariff enhancement decision came in compliance with the conditions of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that recently approved $4.5 billion in loan to Bangladesh.  

Bangladesh has expressed satisfaction with increasing trade with India and emphasised removing all tariff and non-tariff barriers to reduce the trade deficit. At the foreign office consultation (FOC) Wednesday, Bangladesh sought India's cooperation in resolving the pending issues, especially, concluding water-sharing treaties, including Teesta. Bangladesh also emphasised maintaining a predictable flow of commodities from India for a stable market in Bangladesh. Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen and Foreign Secretary of India Vinay Mohan Kwatra led their respective delegations at the FOC held at the Foreign Service Academy. Masud congratulated India for taking the presidency of the G20 and thanked it for inviting Bangladesh as a "guest country." The Indian foreign secretary said they included Bangladesh as a guest country for sharing the experience of the growth trajectory of Bangladesh achieved under the "visionary leadership" of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina with other members of G20. Kwatra described Bangladesh as India's trusted friend and reiterated that India is "committed to working with Bangladesh in the coming days." He said Bangladesh is one of the most important pillars towards India's "Neighbourhood First Policy" and a key partner to its "Act East Policy." He also emphasised exploring and working together in emerging sectors for cooperation.  Both the foreign secretaries expressed satisfaction with the "excellent bilateral relationship" that exists between the two countries. Read more: India to help Bangladesh import hydropower from Nepal, Bhutan: FS

The 104 km Bogra (West) to Rohanpur 400 kV grid transmission line and substation is ready to carry electricity from Adani Power's 1,600 MW thermal power plant in Godda district of Indian state of Jharkhand, although the issue of revising the tariff structure, that the government of Bangladesh is belatedly pursuing, is not settled yet with the Indian company. “Our transmission line and associated substations are ready for operation. We’ve been conducting some test runs of the installations,” said Md. Alamgir Hossain, the project director of the Southwest Transmission Grid Expansion Project. According to official sources, the Power Grid Company of Bangladesh (PGCB) has been implementing the project with the financial support of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) at a total cost of Tk 3273.78 crore. The Bangladesh government and PGCB are also financing the project.     Read More: Why we take power from India’s Adani Group at higher prices, questions MP Chunnu The electricity from Adani Group will enter Bangladesh through a 26 km line from Bangladesh border to Rohanpur and then it will come to Bogura grid substation.   Recently, dismissing any uncertainty over the Adani power’s availability to Bangladesh national grid,   State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid said the electricity from the Jharkhand power plant will be added to the national grid in March as per the agreement. As per the report, Adani Power recently sent a request for BPDB to issue the demand note, where the coal price is quoted at $400 per metric ton - far above what BPDB officials believe it should be given the present state of the international market. Read More: Adani Power team likely to visit Bangladesh to discuss coal price, power tariff  A highly placed source at the BPDB said that the organisation sent a letter date January 23 referring to State Minister-led delegation’s recent visit to the Adani plant mentioned, “During the discussion your side also opined that suitable mechanism will be devised to reduce this inconsistency of coal price by adjusting/changing the coal pricing mechanism of the power purchase agreement (PPA)”. Nasrul Hamid said the tariff of Adani's power will be competitive compared with other coal-fired plants like Payra power plant. However, official sources said BPDB is yet to receive any official reply from the Adani Group on its request for revising the power tariff through “adjusting/changing the coal pricing mechanism of the power purchase agreement (PPA)”. Read More: BPDB seeks revised agreement with Adani before importing power from Jharkhand plant “A representative has informed us that a high level team will visit Bangladesh soon to discuss the coal price and power tariff issue,” he told UNB on condition of anonymity.   Since practically all the power generated by the plant located in the Godda district of Jharkhand state will be exported to Bangladesh, Adani Power requires a demand note from BPDB that it can present to Indian authorities before opening LCs against the coal import. Adani Power recently sent a request for BPDB to issue the demand note, where the coal price is quoted at $400 per ton -- far above what BPDB officials believe it should be given the present state of the international market. Read More: The Tk 700 crore per month hole in the deal with Adani Power  “In our view, the coal price they have quoted ($400/MT) is excessive - it should be less than $250/MT, which is what we are paying for the imported coal at our other thermal power plants," the BPDB official said. A number of BPDB officials told UNB the Adani’s power tariff might be between Tk 20-22 per kilowatt hour (each unit) because of the absence of a provision for discounts on the purchase of coal in the PPA signed with Adani Power, that allowed the Indian firm to quote such a steep bill for the coal. The absence of such a provision is all the more notable since it was made mandatory in the PPAs for thermal power plants signed with other independent power producers, domestic or foreign. In these PPAs, the price of coal to be purchased as primary fuel was kept as “pass-through”. Read More: Adani’s 750 MW power to come to national grid in March: Nasrul Hamid Officials said that they have been working on a number of alternatives to offer Adani so that its coal price could be reduced to ultimately lower the power tariff. "If Adani's power tariff is not competitive, it would be difficult for BPDB to keep it on the merit list to take its electricity for the national grid,” said another top BPDB official.

Bangladesh has proposed zero tariff on finished apparel products — made with American cotton — being exported to the US. Bangladesh made the proposal at the 6th meeting of the US-Bangladesh Trade and Investment Cooperation Forum Agreement (TICFA) held in Washington DC on December 6. Compared to other countries, Bangladesh now pays the highest tariff on its apparel products exported to the United States, which profusely reduces Bangladesh’s competitiveness in the US market. Also read: US for increasing collaboration among stakeholders in Bangladesh RMG sector Tapan Kanti Ghosh, Senior Secretary of the Ministry of Commerce, and Christopher Wilson, Assistant US Trade Representative (USTR) for South and Central Asia, led the Bangladesh and US delegations respectively at the meeting. The head of US delegation Wilson agreed to continue further discussion on the proposal made by Bangladesh. The Bangladesh side also included Labour Secretary Md. Ehsan-E-Elahi, Agriculture Secretary Md. Sayedul Islam, Bangladesh Ambassador to the USA Muhammad Imran and high officials from the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Commerce and the ICT Division. Read More: BGMEA delegation meets US State Department official to discuss RMG issues At the outset of the meeting, Deputy USTR Sarah Bianchi stepped in and welcomed the Bangladesh delegation to the 6th TICFA meeting in Washington. Sarah said that Bangladesh's socioeconomic strides have made the TICFA meeting more relevant than any other time for both countries.

State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid has said that right now, the bulk power tariff hike will have no impact on the masses. “BERC (Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission) will examine whether it will have any impact on retail consumers in future,” he told reporters. Nasrul Hamid made the remark while talking to reporters at his ministry on Monday, following the announcement made by BERC to raise bulk power tariff by 19.92 percent with effect from December, 2022. Read: Tk 1893 crore unpaid as electricity bill by govt ministries, departments, Nasrul Hamid tells JS As per the announcement, the bulk power price will go up to Tk 6.20 per kilowatt hour (each unit) from previous Tk 5.17. Nasrul Hamid said the government wants to ensure uninterrupted power supply to consumers. “That’s why power tariff adjustment was needed,” he added. Earlier, Nasrul Hamid said that the power distribution entities are preparing their proposals to submit to BERC – seeking a hike in the electricity tariff at retail level. Read: Nasrul Hamid now hopes power supply situation will improve from Nov

Soybean oil is still selling at the previous rate of Tk192 per liter arguing that the supply of reduced rate edible is not available in the market yet. Both the wholesalers and retailers said they are selling soybean oil on Tuesday, which was bought earlier. The soybean oil at the reduced rate is not available in the market. Read: Bottled soybean oil to cost Tk 14 less per litre from tomorrow Rupak Saha, a wholesaler of Karwan Bazar told UNB that the soybean oil with the reduced tariff will be available within the next 2 days due to a supply chain problem. Although the refiners announced tariff cut for both open and bottled products with effect from Tuesday (today), both categories of soybean oil is selling at the previous rates bottled at Tk 192 per liter and open at Tk 175 per liter, as the refiners are not deducting price for the already supplied soybean oil, he said. Director General of Directorate of National Consumers Right Protection (DNCRP) AHM Shafiquzzaman said that their monitoring teams are working at the field level to ensure the new tariff on soybean oil. He hoped that the new rate is already effective in the mill gate and it will be effective at the consumers’ level within the shortest possible time. Read: TCB to procure 2.25 litres of soybean oil, 15,000 mts of lentil for OMS Bangladesh Vegetable Oil Refiners and Vanaspati Manufacturers Association (BVORBMA), announced a price drop of soybean oil on Monday with the effect from Tuesday. As per the announcement, the price of open soybean oil will be Tk 158 per liter, bottled soybean at Tk 178 per liter, and 5 liters of bottled soybean at Tk 880.

Managing Director of Dhaka Water Supply and Sewerage Authority (Dhaka Wasa) Taqsem A Khan has said that the water tariff should be raised byvat least 20 percent. He made the remarks on Wednesday while briefing reporters about the water entity’s recent proposal placed at a Wasa board meeting to raise its tariff by 40 percent. “We’ve moved the proposal to adjust the tariff with our production costs,” he said. READ: Sylhet to get its own WASA: LGRD Minister As per the proposal, placed at the Wasa Board meeting on Monday last, the water tariff for household consumers will go up to Tk 21 from Tk 15.18 while commercial consumers’ tariff will be raised to Tk 55 from the existing Tk 42. If the proposal is approved by the Wasa Board, it will come into effect on July 1, 2022. Defending the tariff enhancement plan, the Dhaka Wasa chief said the initiative has been taken to make the organisation financially viable and self-reliant. “We've to do the debt servicing regularly to pay back the loans taken from international financing agencies to implement our different development projects,” Taqsem told reporters. The government is the guarantor of these loans, he added. He claimed that still the government has been providing a huge amount of subsidy to the Dhaka Wasa to keep the city’s water tariff lower and keep the entity smoothly functional. “We've been receiving Tk 10 as the government subsidy per 1000 litres of water. But an organiasation like Dhaka Wasa cannot sustain depending on such financial support," said Taqsem Khan. READ: HC suspends demotion of WASA’s Executive Engineer He said there is advice from the government to gradually raise the water tariff. The water tariff of the Dhaka Wasa was raised on 13 occasions in the last 13 years since the Awami League assumed office in 2009.

Three years since  the move, no headway has been made in the project to install  rooftop solar power on Dhaka University campus due to tariff dispute. After long negotiations between three parties—DPDC, sponsor company and the Dhaka University authorities—the issue now remains pending with the Power Division for a final decision, said the relevant official sources. READ: Sreda launches training on solar power system  According to thevsources, DPDC  received an unsolicited proposal from Bengal Solar, a local private firm, in 2019 to set up a 5 MW solar plant on the independent power producer (IPP) model through installing solar systems on the rooftop of the 72 residential, academic and administrative buildings. The Bengal solar offered the tariff for the electricity at 10.25 Cents (equivalent to Tk 8.7125 per kilowatt hour (each unit) to sell it to the DPDC. The sponsor company also signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Dhaka University  to rent out its rooftops for the green project. But after submission of the proposal, the DPDC found the proposed tariff “higher than expected rate”, said a top official of the distribution company.     Later a tripartite meeting took place between the project’s private sponsor, rooftop provider and the power purchaser, but tariff remained a bone of contention between the stakeholders, sources in DPDC and DU said. At one stage, the sources said, when the net-metering policy was introduced by the government to facilitate the consumers' sale of unconsumed solar power to distribution companies, DPDC officials had skipped the negotiations and offered DU to sell the electricity under the new policy, which finally caused the delay in settling the issue. And seeing the unusual delay, the DU authorities recently wrote a letter to the Power Secretary to intervene and settle the power tariff issue and expedite the project execution, UNB has learnt. Finally, the DPDC made a detailed analysis of the tariff and sent the proposal to the Power Division a few months back seeking further directives on the issue. Chief Engineer of DPDC Mohiuddin Ahmed informed that the DPDC forwarded the Bengal Solar’s proposal to the Power Division with full analysis. “We’re now waiting for the further directive of the Power Division to settle the issue”, he told UNB.   Earlier DPDC had unsuccessfully tried to pursue different government agencies, including the Food Directorate, the Shilpakala Academy, the Women and Children Directorate, and the Education Directorate, for using their rooftops for the project, but none agreed. Mohiuddin, however, said, though DPDC has failed to implement solar projects on different government office buildings, it has successfully installed solar systems on the rooftop of its own 36 office buildings.   READ: Bangladesh seeks EU support for regional hydropower, solar projects Officials said the DPDC has initiated the move for solar power projects as part of the government plan to generate 10 percent electricity from solar system by 2020 to promote renewable energy across the country. As per statistics of the Sustainable and Renewable Energy Development Authority (Sreda), the country’s solar power generation still remains at 542.44 MW while the total power generation capacity is over 23,000 MW.

Bangladesh Reconditioned Vehicles Importers and Dealers Association (BARVIDA) on Wednesday (April 28, 2021) demanded measures for expansion of the car market and increasing the government’s tax collection by rationalising the import duty on reconditioned vehicles and new cars. Leaders of the BARVIDA placed the demands at a virtual press conference held from its Bijoynagar office. Putting emphasis on the stability in the already-established reconditioned car industry, they said with the current perspective, the country needs a realistic, progressive, and implementable policy so that real automotive manufacturing industry is established which will also guarantee the protection of stability in the years-long business of import of reconditioned vehicles. Read NBR expands net, moves to raise revenue collection from income tax wing. Moreover, it is very important to reduce the discrimination in tariff in import of reconditioned cars and new ones for the greater interest of the market expansion of the cars in the country, said the BARVIDA leaders. They said the government can collect huge revenue from the higher sales of cars among the growing middle-income consumers during the period of the country’s graduation to a developing nation from the list of least developed countries (LDC). Addressing the conference, BARVIDA president Abdul Haque welcomed the government’s initiative of formulation of ‘Automotive Industrial Development Policy 2020’ adding that the production of the proposed ‘Made in Bangladesh’ or ‘National Car’ branded motor cars in Bangladesh would be a pride for BARVIDA. Also read: Resolve custom valuation issues of imported cars: BARVIDA But it needs to consider the current situation of the sector concerned, experiences of other countries and realities of the country before the establishment of any new industry, he said. In this case, the BARVIDA leaders suggested the protection of the four-decade import business of the reconditioned vehicle industry, said a press release. They also suggested the government assess the impacts and effectiveness of automotive industrial policy by an independent and credible international agency. The leaders said the local business of imported reconditioned vehicles was established with the investment of several thousand crores of Taka, which has created employment for over one lakh people directly or indirectly. The sector has been contributing to the economy paying thousand crore of Taka as revenue to the national exchequer every year. Also read: BARVIDA donates ambulance to PM's humanitarian programme Noting that the environment-friendly cars produced in Japan with resale value are the first choice by the local customers, they said the BARVIDA is concerned whether any screw driving industry is going to be established in the name of setting up the country's own car-making plant denying the customers’ choice. Referring to a recent survey of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), the BARVIDA president said it is feasible to establish the country’s own car-making plant, if one lakh pieces of car are sold in the domestic market of Bangladesh in a year. However, in the domestic market of Bangladesh some 10,000 units to 20,000 unit cars are sold in a year, he said. “So, the government needs to take measures to expand the local car markets before going for local production and aiming to export cars. In this case, it is very urgent to remove the discrimination of tariff structures on import of reconditioned cars and locally produced cars,” he said. Read Experts for more growth-friendly, simple, transparent tax system In a recent pre-budget meeting with NBR officials, the BARVIDA demanded for increasing the depreciation benefit in import of cars by restructuring the supplementary duties on import of hybrid and fossil fuel-driven cars and withdrawal of supplementary duty on import of microbuses, the BARVIDA president said. The BARVIDA leaders said the import of reconditioned cars declined significantly over the last few years in Bangladesh because of wide discrimination of duty between on import of reconditioned and new cars. So, the government’s revenue collection from the sector also faced a stumble. The BARVIDA did not get any loan from the government-sponsored stimulus package started one year ago. Read BARVIDA for reforming customs valuation system for vehicles The Chattogram port has yet to waive the port demurrage charge that was levied last year by the port authority on the importers even during the general public holidays despite an application by the BARVIDA. But the port authority has exempted the tax on container transportation. So, for the revival of the sector from the fallouts of the Covid-19, the BARVIDA wants to see the implementation of their placed proposals in the upcoming national budget for fiscal 2021-22, the leaders said. BARVIDA vice president Saiful Islam (Samrat) and secretary-general Mohammad Shahidul Islam also spoke on the occasion. Read NBR sets its sight on cranking up tax-GDP ratio