Country’s jewellery industry has been facing setbacks amid abuse of baggage rules, revealed an observation of the Bangladesh Jeweller’s Association (BAJUS).

Addressing a meeting on Sunday, speakers also mentioned that the government is also missing ‘huge amount of revenue’ due to the misusage of baggage rules.

Bajus standing committee on anti-smuggling and law enforcement organised the meeting at its head office at Bashundhara City in the Panthapath area of the capital.
With BAJUS Vice President Reponul Hasan in chair, Standing Committee Chairman Didarul Alam and advisor Ruhul Amin Rasel spoke on the occasion.

BAJUS leaders claimed that passengers arriving from abroad are abusing the baggage rule in most cases by bringing 100 grams of gold ornaments without paying customs duty.

“The jewellery industry is being destroyed due to the misuse of baggage rules. Local artisans are becoming jobless. Besides, the government is being deprived of foreign currency, earned by the blood and sweat of the expatriates,” read the release.

The trade body has urged the government to impose strong surveillance over the ports to take action against the gold smuggling amid dollar crunch.

The trade body formulated a guideline for the purchase, sales, and marketing of the jewellery items in June this year to ensure transparency in the industry.
According to the guideline, the original copy of the seller’s passport should be photocopied at his own risk. From the original copy of the seller’s national identity card, photocopies of both sides should be kept at his own risk.

Gold must be purchased from the original owner while the carrier should keep tax payment document (original copy) at the airport during declaration.