Business Corruption

The US Department of State 2007 reports that businesspeople often complain about petty corruption, such as the need to make unofficial payments to obtain customs clearance services. A similar trend is also reflected in the World Economic Forum Global Enabling Trade Report 2010, in which business executives ranked border administration, in relation to irregular payments in exports and imports, as not always transparent in Bangladesh, and therefore constituting a competitive disadvantage for the country.

Political Corruption

Chittagong Port, which handles 85% of Bangladesh’s total imports and exports, is considered to be one of the most inefficient and corrupt ports in Asia, according to Transparency International Bangladesh’s Problems and Potentials of Chittagong Port 2007. According to the report, corruption has become institutionalised in the offices of the port where bribes or facilitation payments are expected if a task or procedure needs to be completed. In order to submit or amend mandatory import and export documents, bribes are paid in virtually all transactions. It was observed in March 2007 that paying bribes at numerous locations in order to anchor a ship in the port was not unusual. The report states that bribery takes place outside the port by reaching an understanding through agents. The pilots of the port take BDT 10,000 as tips for anchoring a ship and then for taking it to outer anchorage. In case of overdrafting of ships, the rate can rise to more than BDT 100,000

In May 2008, nine employees of the customs department were detained on charges of irregularities and corruption, as reported in Global Integrity 2008.

Frequency

The World Bank & IFC: Doing Business 2012:
- A standard export shipment of goods requires 6 documents and takes an average of 25 days at a cost of USD 965 per container.

- A standard import shipment of goods requires 8 documents and takes an average of 31 days at a cost of USD 1,370 per container.

World Economic Forum: The Global Competitiveness Report 2011-2012:
- Business executives give the efficiency of customs procedures formalities regulating the entry and exit of merchandise) in Bangladesh score of 3.4 on a 7-point scale (1 'extremely inefficient' and 7 'extremely efficient').

World Economic Forum: The Global Enabling Trade Report 2010:
- Business executives give the transparency of border administration (pervasiveness of undocumented extra payments or bribes connected with imports and exports) in Bangladesh a score of 2.2 on a 7-point scale (1 'non-transparent' and 7 'transparent').

Transparency International Bangladesh: National Household Survey - Corruption in the Service Sectors 2010:
- The average amount of a bribe paid to the tax and customs departments was BDT 6,734.

The World Bank & IFC: Enterprise Surveys 2007:
- A little more than 51% of companies report that they expect to give gifts to obtain an import licence.

- Slightly more than 11% of companies surveyed identify customs and trade regulations as a major constraint to doing business.