The government on Monday issued a gazette declaring the services under the National Board of Revenue, particularly at customs houses, inland container depots, bond commissionerates and customs stations, as ‘essential services’ to safeguard essential trade and foreign commerce.
The Ministry of Labour and Employment issued the gazette signed by its secretary AHM Shafiquzzaman.
According to the gazette, services under the NBR are essential for meeting the government’s revenue collection targets and for maintaining the government’s dynamic financial management.
The Essential Services (Maintenance) Act, 1952, and the Essential Services (Second) Ordinance, 1958, enable the government to declare certain services as essential, thereby restricting employee actions, such as strikes and layoffs, in those sectors.
On Monday, activities at the NBR resumed fully following the withdrawal of the protest programmes by NBR officials on Sunday after a series of meetings with the government and the business leaders.
The protests had paralysed the import and export activities at the country’s ports and the collection of taxes across the country in the past few days.
The NBR head office in the capital Dhaka and field offices across the country returned to their regular activities on Monday.
NBR officials had been in protest since April 29 against a government’s move to spilt the revenue board into two divisions. They formed a platform named the NBR Reforms Unity Council following the promulgation of the Revenue Policy and Revenue Management Ordinance 2025 by the interim government on May 12. The ordinance dissolved the revenue board and split it into two divisions under the finance ministry with the aim of modernising tax administration and boost revenue collection.
Since the issuance of the ordinance, the NBR officials had held a series of sit-ins, pen-down strikes, and non-cooperation with the NBR chairman in May and June, protesting against the government’s move and demanding removal of the NBR chairman.
On Monday, NBR chairman Abdur Rahman Khan urged the officials to set aside their concerns and focus on their respective responsibilities in the nation’s interest.
While speaking with reporters at the NBR headquarters at Agargaon in the capital, he also expressed hope that they would not have to face such problems in the future, and his call was for everyone to work with efficiency as they did in the past.
Finance adviser Salehuddin Ahmed expressed satisfaction on Monday over the withdrawal of the strike by NBR officials and the resumption of port operations and urged revenue officials to work sincerely and impartially in the future.
Following the withdrawal of the ‘complete shutdown’ by customs officials, the export and import operations at all sea and land ports resumed on Monday.
According to a report from ¶¶Òõ¾«Æ· staff correspondent in Chattogram, port and customs officials said that operations at the Chattogram port and Customs House began from Sunday night. By Monday morning, full-scale customs activities, including import and export clearance, resumed.
Chattogram Customs deputy commissioner Saiful Islam said that work resumed past night, and the customs house reopened on Monday, with all operations going as usual.
SM Saiful Islam, president of the Chattogram C&F Agents Association, said that they were greatly relieved that customs officials had resumed work. Operations resumed at all 21 off-docks in Chattogram.
Sakeef Ahmed Salam, director of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association, said that the halt in customs services in the past two days had severely impacted the garment industry.
He also noted that coordinated planning and early negotiations were crucial to preventing such crises in the future.
