India, Bangladesh customs officials discuss opening of new customs stations, easing port restrictions

The two day 14th joint meeting between India and Bangladesh was held on 21st and 22nd August, 2023 in New Delhi. India and Bangladesh reaffirmed their commitment to bolstering customs cooperation and streamlining cross-border trade.

In the 14th Joint Group of Customs (JGC) meeting, customs officials of India and Bangladesh discussed a host of bilateral issues such as opening of new land customs stations, easing port restrictions, development of road and rail infrastructure and pre-arrival exchange of customs data.

The two day 14th joint meeting between India and Bangladesh was held on 21st and 22nd August, 2023 in New Delhi. India and Bangladesh reaffirmed their commitment to bolstering customs cooperation and streamlining cross-border trade.

Both countries concluded meeting with committment to furtherance of cooperation in areas of mutual interest.

The India-Bangladesh Joint Group of Customs meetings are held on an annual basis to discuss issues relating to customs cooperation and cross-border trade facilitation.

These meetings play a vital role in enhancing connectivity and developing trade infrastructure for smooth customs clearance at land borders. There are 62 land customs stations along the India-Bangladesh Border in the States of West Bengal, Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram.

Several trade facilitative measures have been undertaken by India in this context recently such as enabling exports from Bangladesh to India by rail in closed containers, with customs clearance facility at any Inland Container Depot (ICD) vide Circular dated 17th May 2022. This would also help decongest the border trade points.

New Delhi thanked Dhaka for completing trial runs and issuing notification for operationalizing the Agreement on Use of Chattogram and Mongla Ports (ACMP) as was decided in the 13th JGC meeting, and initiated discussions on electronic connectivity of the respective transit modules of ACMP.