CPA wants expansion of FCL coverage

FT ONLINE

The National Board of Revenue has been asked to permit direct delivery of all types of FCL (full container load) containers to importers' premises.

According to officials, only industrial items are now allowed to be delivered as FCL containers.

Chittagong Port Authority (CPA) chairman Zulfiqur Aziz said only 10 to 12 per cent containers are delivered directly to the consignees under box delivery system from the port yard.

He made the disclosure at a recent meeting at shipping ministry.

Around 20 to 22 per cent of FCLs with 37 industrial items are allowed to be delivered from the inland container depots (ICDs) to the consignees.

The rest-around 65 to 70 per cent-are being delivered after un-stuffing at the port yard.

As a result, Mr Aziz said, some 30 per cent space of the yard is being occupied by FCL containers, thus creating logjam there.

Around 4,000 trucks enter the port area daily to take delivery of the boxes brought by the FCL containers, he added.

The entry of several thousand workers also poses a security threat to the port, the CPA chief stated.

He demanded that commercial items also be delivered directly or allowed for a chassis delivery to the customers' premises.

Mr Aziz made a plea to raise the number of items, laden in FCL containers, for delivery from the ICDs.

Presently, there are some 18 ICDs located around Chittagong port and one in Kamalapur in the capital.

Outbound goods are stuffed in containers at the ICDs after being transported by trucks and covered vans before being boarded in the feeder vessels.

The ICDs, also called off-docks, handle around 91 per cent of the total export containers.

The remaining 9.0 per cent directly goes to the port yard from the factory premises by lorries.

On the other hand, the ICDs handle around 25 per cent of the total imported containers.

They also store empty containers as the number of inbound containers in Bangladesh is much higher than the outbound ones.

When asked, a senior official at the ministry said the revenue board has been requested to take necessary steps allowing direct delivery of more FCL containers to the consignees' premises.

"Both import and export are growing every year. We need to make a realistic decision so ports can handle rising trade successfully," he said.