Following India’s decision to cancel the transhipment facility with Bangladesh, four trucks carrying export goods were denied entry at the Petrapole border gate.
On the evening of Wednesday, April 9, Indian authorities turned back the trucks, which had been dispatched from Dhaka. The vehicles, loaded with readymade garments, subsequently returned to Dhaka.
Kartik Chakraborty, General Secretary of the C&F Agents Staff Welfare Association at Petrapole Land Port, confirmed the incident, stating that the customs authorities acted in response to a directive from India’s Ministry of Finance. The directive instructed customs officials to suspend transhipment operations via land ports.
Following this order, customs officials at Petrapole have ceased accepting goods arriving from Benapole under the existing transit arrangement.
Sajedur Rahman, General Secretary of the Benapole C&F Agents Staff Association, revealed that the returned trucks were owned by DSV Air & Sea Ltd., a Dhaka-based export company. The shipments were intended for several European destinations.
Mamun Kabir Torofdar, Deputy Director (Traffic) at Benapole Land Port, explained that the cancellation of the transhipment facility led to Petrapole Customs refusing to issue CARPASS clearance for goods from third countries, which ultimately resulted in the trucks being denied entry. He further mentioned that trucks already inside Indian Territory under the previous arrangement have been instructed to unload and exit the country without delay.
India and Bangladesh had signed a transhipment agreement on June 29, 2020, allowing Bangladeshi goods destined for third countries to be transported through Indian territory. This agreement permitted the use of Indian customs stations for routing such shipments to other ports or airports.
However, on Tuesday (April 8), India’s Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) officially revoked the agreement, bringing the transhipment arrangement to an end.
Despite the atmosphere change, Sajib Nazir, another Deputy Director (Traffic) at Benapole, confirmed that regular exports and import between Bangladesh and India remain unaffected and are continuing without disruption.