The Import Policy Order 2026-2029 is issued in August by the Ministry of Commerce and is guided by the Imports and Exports (Control) Act of 1950. This regulates the terms and conditions of importing and exporting goods in and out of Bangladesh for the enxt next three years. Almost all industries follow the same broad principles: import registration, letter of credit, and consent of the chief controller of imports and exports where the order demands so. Alongside this broad policy, some additional benefits are provided for particular categories of enterprise.
The largest of these comes under Article 16 of the Bangladesh Import Policy Order 2026-2029. The article puts the Invest Bangladesh Authority, Export Processing Zones (EPZs), and Free Trade Zones (FTZs) outside the scope of the regulations laid down under the order in general terms. They have a unique banking and customs clearance procedure determined directly by the Bangladesh Bank and National Board of Revenue. There is a system of passbooks to maintain a record of import and export accounts for each entity. In addition, there is another system of in-pass and out-pass for the movement of machinery for repairs. Sales within the country to these zones would be considered exports and paid in convertible currency.
The second facility exists under Article 25 of the Bangladesh Import Policy Order 2026-2029. It provides a comparable back-to-back letter of credit facility to fully export-oriented garment, textile and hosiery, leather, shipbuilding, and furniture manufacturing industries. BGMEA (the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association) or BKMEA (the Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association) determines the quantity.
The two are similar in design. They serve the purpose of large-scale and export-oriented industries in Bangladesh. The EPZ, under the BEPZA guidelines, exists behind the customs border, allowing only those who are fully export-oriented to become its members, which contributes to Article 16’s ability to suspend the general regulations for the entire zone. The facility mentioned in Article 25 is designed specifically for the five export-oriented sectors. Neither had to accommodate any other type of industry because both were tailored to large exporters alone.
But there is no parallel organization for the cottage, micro, small and medium enterprises (CMSMEs). CMSMEs registered under the Bangladesh Small and Cottage Industries Corporation (BSCIC), the main government organization that provides support services to small, rural, and cottage industries in Bangladesh, run their industries within the 84 industrial estates of BSCIC and have access to the facilities for recognized industries only through the general provisions made by the order. This basic structure was not designed to take the burden of CMSMEs.
The government wants that the output from this sector should rise beyond 60 percent of the economy, while it is 36 percent at present. BSCIC estates, located all over the country, form the biggest organized cluster of entrepreneurs whom the target depends upon. A policy of imports based on two facilitated items, none of which can be accessed by CMSME units of these estates, has made them responsible for the government’s own growth target.
The estates of BSCIC have done for CMSMEs what the Invest Bangladesh Authority and EPZs have done for large and export industries. They have concentrated CMSMEs, organized them, and given them a centralized administrative base. Not all estates are mixed-use either. The BSCIC Hosiery Industrial Estate in Narayanganj contains hosiery and knitwear export enterprises and little else. The BSCIC Leather Industrial Estate in Savar has been created specially for tanneries. Both fall within the sectors (hosiery and leather) listed in Article 25 as eligible.
General BSCIC estates are different in that they include a smaller number of large exporters, such as Square Pharmaceuticals in Pabna, along with a considerably larger number of CMSMEs, exporting very little and producing mainly for the local market. This makes a good case for Article 16 to be applied selectively. Estates that have been set up specially in one sector (Narayanganj and Savar) make it even clearer. These estates are built for exports just like EPZs are, but enterprises in them continue importing and exporting through the general procedure.
Each enterprise operating on BSCIC estates is subject to industrial registration by BSCIC through the One Stop Service (OSS), a digital single-window system that simplifies the entire investment process in Bangladesh. This ensures that there is an easy way for the regulator to determine who qualifies. The facility can be linked to enterprises that qualify at a certain level in terms of exports or earning foreign exchange, or even to CMSMEs within the estates importing raw materials and machinery. Domestic market-focused enterprises will continue to pursue the regular process.
An administrative foundation for this also exists. The procedures set out in Article 16 of the Bangladesh Import Policy Order 2026-2029 for the Invest Bangladesh Authority and EPZs have been operationalized by the Bangladesh Bank and the NBR. An extended application of these procedures to BSCIC Estates can therefore be based on an existing system.
This is not a matter of equating BSCIC in its function and purpose to the Invest Bangladesh Authority. This is a matter of realizing that the facility which Article 16 provided for reducing import-related friction with respect to large-scale and export-oriented industrial operations is equally necessary within the estates carrying the country’s CMSME sector. The next Import Policy Order is the right place for extending the same to those estates based on their actual requirements.
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