Another step forward under BBIN deal
The landmark BBIN motor vehicle agreement moved one step closer to reality after a trial run involving a cargo truck from Bangladesh arrived in New Delhi yesterday without any glitch.
The truck of Nazrul Transport Agency and Expo Freight Pvt Ltd from Bangladesh left Dhaka on August 27 and reached the Inland Customs Depot in east Delhi yesterday morning.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel. The trial run was organised to help develop the protocols for implementing the agreement signed by Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal signed on June 15 last year to facilitate cross-border movement of both passenger and cargo vehicles in the region.
On August 28, the cargo vehicle reached the Indian border of Petrapole.
The consignment did not have to undergo any customs clearance at Petrapole. It was fitted with an electronic seal that had a GPS tracking device so that the goods could be inspected for custom clearance in New Delhi, its final port of call.
The tracking system allowed real-time monitoring of the vehicle's journey.
In India, the vehicle traversed more than 1,850km, through the states of West Bengal, Jharkhand, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana to reach the ICD in Delhi.
The truck was issued an e-permit for the trial run through an online web-based system, according to an official statement.
A similar trial run of a cargo vehicle from India was conducted in November 2015 from Kolkata to Agartala via Dhaka.
At present, cargo movement between Bangladesh and India has to go through trans-shipment process at Benapole-Petrapole border, resulting in delays and often damage of goods.