March 07, 2009 – Bangladeshi killed by BSF – The New Nation

Border Security Force (BSF) of India shot dead a Bangladeshi cattle trader on Kirtanpara border under Bhutipukuri border under Tetulia upazila in the district in the early hours of Friday. The victim was identified as Shamu, 40, son of late Tamizuddin of Joyganjoth village under Tetulia upazila. BDR sources said BSF personnel of Modanbari camp opened fire on a group of cattle trader at around 1:00 am while they reached near the demarcation line after buying cattle from India. Shamu died on the spot while others managed to escape the place unhurt. After the incident the Indian border guards took away the body of Shanmu inside India. BDR strongly protested the killing and asked its Indian counterpart to return the body. So the new export initiatives under the scheme is only slowing down as only few new exporters are taking interest to export RMG to India while they have ready market in Europe and America, said a business source. The Indian government is reportedly saying as information suggest, it has only removed the basic import duty at 10 percent on RMG import from Bangladesh. But other internal duties have remained in place. Duties which the Indian government is collecting on Bangladesh apparels include central government VAT, Special central government SCVAT, secondary education tax (ETS) and higher secondary education tax (ETHS)- altogether 18 percent, exporters said. “BGMEA president Anwarul Alam Chowdhury blamed poor negotiating capacity of the Bangladesh for the problem saying it should have made sure that duty free means no duty at all. Now it appears that most duties have remain in place, he said. . Exporters have also listed many non-tariff barriers. They alleged that customs officials on the Indian side raise question on the credibility of invoice value relating to export documents and often apply duty several times higher than the real value. Very often they keep trucks loaded with export consignment stranded at the check post unattended for hours and exporters have to pay additional charges on hourly basis. Indian government officials handling duty free export moreover, create unnecessary problems looking for small faults with export documents and sending it back to Dhaka for correction if they find some shortcoming. Consequently the exporters have to pay demurrage charge bringing inconveniences to both exporters and importers, they said. Exporters said buyers at Hariyana, Mumbai, Kolkata and especially in northeastern states of India are taking big interest in knitwear, trousers, ladies shirts and pants made in Bangladesh. But the question remains whether the Indian buyers can take this opportunity while the exporters are wondering whether the duty free scheme under SAFTA arrangement can over live the troubles.

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