Readymade garment exporters on Saturday alleged that the delay in making delivery of raw materials imported through air cargoes was disrupting the supply chain of the export-oriented sector. Heightened security at the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka has made the delivery process upsetting, they said. ‘Tightened security (at the airport) is fine. But, a lack of coordination among Civil Aviation Authority, Biman Bangladesh Airlines, Customs and Customs Clearing & Forwarding Agents has caused a severe logjam in the delivery system of imported goods in last three weeks,’ Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association president Siddiqur Rahman told reporters. He said that a good number of import consignments remained stuck and kept under open sky at the airport as the Civil Aviation Authority was not allowing customs clearing agents in to the airport showing excuse of security reason. ‘The volume of imported raw materials through air cargoes for the RMG sector is insignificant but the impact of the delay in delivery is huge. It may happen that the million-dollar export goods are ready but the factory is waiting for a special button as per the requirement of buyer. The button is coming through air cargo,’ Siddiqur said. Delivery of some of the consignments was delayed up to 15 days which is completely unacceptable, he said. ‘We are also happy with the tightened security at the airport. But in the name of security we cannot accept harassment,’ he said. If the situation continues, many exporters might fail to maintain lead time and to face cancelation of orders, Siddiqur said. The BGMEA president also alleged that one of the key reasons for the delay in delivery was misinformation about the location of consignments. Some consignments have gone missing as the goods remained stuck in open place for a long time, he said. Sheikh Md Farid, president of the Customs Clearing and Forwarding Agents Association in Dhaka, told New Age that a good number of consignments remained stacked in the bay area of the airport as the clearing agents were not allowed in to certain areas of the airport that was hampering custom clearing. Detecting the location of imported goods at the airport is now a major challenge as the authorities of Biman Bangladesh Airlines failed to manage the consignments in an organised way, he said. Lutfur Rahman, commissioner of Dhaka Customs House, told New Age that they had been doing their job as usual and no one filed any complaint with them over delay in delivery. ‘It is true that service is not up to the mark. But, we are trying to do work in a coordinated way,’ he said.
