Chittagong Port Authority disputes NBR cargo clearance findings in Bangladesh

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Port Authority disputes NBR cargo clearance

Highlights

Chittagong Port Authority disputes the NBR's claim that cargo clearance takes around 11 days, asserting much of the delay occurs outside its jurisdiction.
The authority reports average clearance within port premises as five hours per vehicle, and 1.5 hours for on-chassis deliveries, challenging accusations of inefficiency.
Port officials state 70% to 80% of consignments leave within the four-day free storage period, attributing excess charges and delays primarily to other government agencies' procedures.

Different metrics drive clearance dispute

As reported by The Business Standard, the Chittagong Port Authority is contesting findings in the National Board of Revenue's Time Release Study, which calculated that clearing imported consignments takes around 11 days and can add about $48.30 in charges per twenty-foot equivalent unit after the four-day free storage period ends.

In a rejoinder to a 12 October 2026 report, the authority says the coverage is misleading and argues that most of the delay occurs outside its jurisdiction. The port authority says its own role accounts for 14% of total clearance time, while customs procedures make up 8%, with the rest linked to other government processes.

Citing data from its Terminal Operating System, the authority says average cargo clearance inside port premises takes five hours from vehicle entry to exit. For on-chassis delivery, it puts the average at 1.5 hours, including one hour for customs scanning and gate verification.

Implications for port costs and inter-agency coordination

The authority says 70% to 80% of consignments are cleared within the four-day free storage window, while the remaining 20% to 30% stay longer mainly because of procedures involving agencies such as the Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institution, quarantine authorities, the explosives department and chemical testing facilities.

It argues that storage charges arising from those delays should not be attributed to the port alone and says closer coordination among the agencies involved is needed to improve the overall process. The authority also maintains that it remains committed to efficient cargo handling.

The disagreement reflects two different measurements rather than a direct contradiction. The port system tracks the time vehicles spend inside the premises, while the NBR study examines the broader end-to-end clearance process, meaning a short delivery window at the gate does not by itself show how long importers wait before cargo becomes eligible for release.

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