Bangladesh Garment Manu-factures and Exporters Association (BGMEA) yesterday urged the government to introduce licensing system for freight forwarding agents allowing them to carry out documentation works.
AM Mahboob Chowdhury, director of BGMEA, in a letter to the National Board of Revenue (NBR) chairman said the importers and exporters have to pay phenomenally high price for getting the documentation works done by the shipping agents.
It said allowing the freight forwarding agents to do the job will reduce the cost significantly.
BGMEA said different chambers and trade bodies, including the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI), had long been demanding introduction of licensing system for the freight forwarders.
The Prime Minister's Office and the finance minister also instructed the NBR to introduce the system to support export-import trade, it said, adding the freight forwarders across the world are doing the same thing.
The NBR also issued an SRO four years ago on licensing requirement for the freight forwarding agents, which was not implemented.
