Cabinet Committee on Government Purchase has approved a proposal for purchasing six container scanner systems from Nuctech Company Ltd worth Tk 327.1 crore.
According to the Internal Resources Division (IRD), The National Board of Revenue (NBR) in October 2019 planned to buy 14 container scanners to boost the inspection of export and import consignments and curb evasion of duties through false declarations.
Currently, customs have a total of seven scanners, including four at the Chittagong port, which can scan 15-20 percent of the import consignments, said a customs official.
NBR officials said they made scanning of all containers mandatory in 2009 to prevent imports through misdeclaration. The measure was also taken to prevent the smuggling of arms and ammunition.
However, NBR could not impose the rule due to scanner shortage. Till date, 58 percent of import-export containers remain unchecked.
