Tackling regulatory issues key to Indo-Bangla trade: Officials

Officials from India and Bangladesh on Wednesday stressed on the need to address regulatory challenges in order to promote trade and the cross border movement of goods and services through the land route. They urged for a mutual cooperation to overcome hurdles and strengthening of infrastructure at integrated check posts to boost bilateral trade.

"To facilitate trade, authorities from both sides must come to a mutual solution for these (regulatory) challenges," Bangladesh Land Port Authority's Additional Secretary Mohammad Alauddin Fokir said. The biggest challenge is to "integrate all the regulatory bodies in one online platform" to facilitate trade activities, said Rahul Singh, Deputy Director General of Foreign Trade, Office of the Additional DGFT in Kolkata.

Bangladesh Land Port Authority has declared 23 land ports since its inception in 2012, Fokir said adding that there is a need of quarantine facilities at the Agartala- Akhaura land port to facilitate trade. They were speaking at a technical session, 'Role of Regulatory Authorities', on the last day of the India Bangladesh Stakeholders' Meet here.

India's Chief Commissioner of Central GST and Customs (NE Region) GV Krishna Rao stated that the customs department promotes legal trade and ensures safety of goods. There are 10 integrated check posts (ICP) on Indo- Bangladesh border and the one at Sutarkandi, Assam has already been made operational, Land Port Authority of India Manager (Projects) Arvind Akashi said.

The facilities such as electronic weigh bridge, CCTV cameras and cargo scanner are installed at the ICPs, he said. Bangladesh's National Board of Revenue Member (Tax Policy) Kanon Kumar Roy said that the regulators must protect the interests of the domestic traders in the era of borderless global world and mutual cooperation would give a fillip to cross border trade..