Four high-end cars imported as spare parts thru Mongla Port

Four luxury vehicles were allegedly imported through Mongla Port after being cut into large sections and declared as used automobile spare parts, an investigation by the Customs Intelligence and Investigation Directorate (CIID) has found.

The National Board of Revenue (NBR) disclosed the findings in a statement on Thursday (August 27), saying the shipment contained major and essential components that could be reassembled to reconstruct the vehicles’ original structures and characteristics.

The customs investigation suggests the consignment was not a shipment of ordinary used spare parts but an attempt to import partially assembled vehicles by declaring them as separate components.

The four vehicles have an estimated combined market value of Tk 450 million to Tk 670 million or more, while the entire shipment was invoiced at just $7,935. Its declared assessable value was around Tk 993,547, with total duties, taxes and other charges payable amounting to Tk 610,030.

According to the CIID, the shipment was filed under Bill of Entry No. C-6904. Crown Automobile Services of Gandaria, Dhaka, was identified as the importer, while ST International of Khulna acted as the clearing and forwarding agent. The consignment arrived from Mahi Car Port in Japan.

The shipment comprised 164 packages containing 14 categories of declared items, including used doors, gear assemblies with 2,000cc petrol engines, suspension shock absorbers, nose cuts, headlights, taillights, fenders, cabins, steering wheels and bumpers.

Acting on a tip-off, CIID’s Khulna regional office and Mongla Circle suspended the clearance process. A 100% physical inspection was conducted on July 19 with technical assistance from the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) and Khulna University of Engineering & Technology (KUET).

Investigators also examined stickers, labels, markings and identification numbers on various components and used artificial intelligence technology to help identify the vehicles.

The inspection found that several supposedly separate spare parts still had electrical wiring systems, sensors and other essential components attached. Investigators found front and rear sections, cut front and rear assemblies and roof-cut panel assemblies, indicating that the vehicles had been divided into several large sections rather than dismantled into conventional spare parts.

The vehicles were identified as a 2017 Range Rover Vogue, a 2010 BMW 650i, a 2016 Lexus LX570 and a Toyota Crown Athlete.

The estimated market value of the Range Rover is Tk 16 million to Tk 18.5 million, the BMW Tk 6 million to Tk 9 million, the Lexus more than Tk 20 million to Tk 35 million and the Toyota Crown Tk 3 million to Tk 4.5 million.

CIID stressed that these are indicative market values and that the final valuation and applicable duties will be determined through the official customs assessment process.

According to the NBR, the shipment’s declared invoice value was $7,935, with a declared exchange rate of Tk 122.7433 per dollar and other expenses of Tk 19,577. This produced an assessable value of approximately Tk 993,547. Duties and taxes were declared at Tk 607,396, bringing the total payable amount, including other charges, to Tk 610,030.

Authorities are now determining how much duty and tax would have been applicable had the vehicles been classified as complete motor vehicles in partially assembled form under the relevant customs rules, rather than as separate used parts.

The eventual revenue gap will depend on the vehicles’ actual values, engine capacities, ages, depreciation and applicable duties and taxes, among other factors.

Under customs classification rules, an incomplete, unfinished or disassembled product may in certain circumstances be classified as a complete product if it retains the “essential character” of the finished item. Experts involved in the inspection have reportedly concluded that the nature and arrangement of the components indicate that the four vehicles retained the essential character of complete motor vehicles.