Customs Detects Tk 1.59 Crore Revenue Irregularities in Export Consignments of Two Garment Exporters
Customs officials have uncovered alleged irregularities involving over Tk 1.59 crore in suspected revenue evasion and the illegal removal of bond-facility imported fabrics across export consignments belonging to two readymade garment exporters. According to a press release issued by the Customs House, ICD, Chattogram on Thursday evening, the discrepancies were detected during separate physical inspections at two off-dock facilities in Chattogram, where large quantities of garments failed to match official export declarations. In the first incident on November 11 at QNS Container Service Ltd off-dock, officials examined a shipment from Savar-based Eagle Textiles declared as 237 cartons of four specific garment categories. A full physical inspection instead revealed 173,349 pieces of undeclared stock-lot knit and denim garments across 14 categories packed in bags, alongside fabric compositions that contradicted the Utilization Declaration issued by the Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA), resulting in an estimated Tk 80 lakh in bond-related revenue irregularities and Tk 9 lakh in VAT evasion.
In a separate inspection on October 28 at Shafi Motors Limited off-dock, customs officials uncovered similar violations in a consignment belonging to Reaz Knitwear Limited, which had officially declared 687 cartons of men’s polo shirts. Physical examination revealed undeclared knit and denim garments spanning 50 different categories, while 65,050 pieces of garments specified under a Utilization Declaration issued by the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) were missing entirely, accounting for over Tk 70 lakh in suspected bond-facility revenue evasion. The Chattogram Customs House confirmed that final investigation reports are currently being compiled with legal proceedings underway against both exporters, reiterating its commitment to strict surveillance and enforcement to safeguard state revenue and prevent the misuse of bonded warehouse facilities.
