Letter from the table: The price that arrived after the shipment

RC/TR/2026/T.22 — Letter from the table

To the Trade Council,

I support the Small Importer Standard. I am writing from Sylhet, where I learned the hard way that a freight quote is not the same thing as knowing what an import will cost when it reaches you.

On 12 February, I approved a shipment for my small business. I will not describe the goods because my business is not the point. I had done the arithmetic before committing: the supplier’s invoice, the international freight estimate, the expected customs duties and taxes, and the local charges. I had put aside Tk 4,80,000 for freight, clearance and the charges I understood would fall due at arrival. I could manage that amount. I could not comfortably manage a large surprise on top of it.

The forwarder’s estimate looked complete to me. It gave a freight amount and a line for destination handling and clearance. I asked whether there would be other charges. I received an answer that left me with the impression that the estimate covered the ordinary costs of getting the shipment released. I did not ask the right follow-up questions, and the estimate did not tell me which items could change, who would set them, or what amount had not yet been calculated.

My bank processed the import payment and checked the documents needed for the transaction. The shipment arrived at Chattogram on 6 March. For an import into Bangladesh, the customs declaration has to identify the goods and their tariff classification; applicable duties and taxes are assessed under the relevant rules and tariff. Customs operates under

the National Board of Revenue. I understand that an estimate is not a final customs assessment, and I am not asking anyone to promise a final amount before the documents and declaration are settled.

What I needed was a clear account of what was known, what was provisional, and what could still be added. Instead, after arrival, I received a revised bill. In addition to the amount I had planned for, it showed Tk 1,18,000 in charges that had not been made clear to me in the earlier estimate. Some items related to local handling and clearance; others depended on the shipment’s actual assessment and the time it took to complete release. I had no single, plain-language document showing which charges came from the forwarder, which were port or handling charges, and which were duties or taxes assessed through customs.

I tried to resolve it before the costs grew. I asked the forwarder for an itemised explanation and asked my clearing and forwarding agent to help me understand the assessment. I gathered the invoice and shipping documents and checked the figures against the revised bill. The explanations came in pieces. Each answer made one part clearer but did not give me a total I could use to decide what to do next. While I waited, storage and related time-based costs continued. By the time the shipment was released on 17 March, those additional costs had reached Tk 69,000.

The total extra burden was Tk 1,87,000 beyond the amount I had set aside. That is not an abstract percentage for a small firm. It was money I had planned to use for routine bills and working cash. I delayed another purchase and spent evenings trying to match charge descriptions to documents. The shipment did not become more valuable because I had to wait for an explanation. The delay simply made the mistake in my planning more expensive.

I am not saying that every increase was improper. Customs assessment can differ from an estimate, and some port, handling or storage charges may depend on events after arrival. My complaint is that I could not see the difference early enough to plan. A small importer should not have to guess whether a line is fixed, provisional, conditional or missing altogether.

The proposed standard would make a practical difference. Before a small trader commits, the forwarder should provide a landed-cost estimate in plain language, with separate lines for freight, destination handling, clearance, duties and taxes where these can be estimated, and other likely charges. Each amount should say who sets it, what it covers, whether it is fixed or provisional, and what event could change it. If a figure cannot yet be known, the estimate should say why and give a reasonable range or explain what document is needed to narrow it. When the estimate changes, the trader should receive an updated breakdown promptly, not a total that arrives when the shipment is already waiting.

I also support size-based thresholds, clear guidance and a phase-in when new trade rules or tariffs apply. A small importer has fewer people to monitor notices, interpret technical changes and absorb a sudden cash requirement. A phase-in and usable guidance would not remove customs rules. They would give small businesses a fair chance to understand and comply with them.

I have started keeping a Landed Cost Diary: the estimate I received, the documents requested, the charges added, and the dates each step happened. I am sharing this because a record of one shipment can help show where a process repeatedly leaves small traders in the dark. Please count my experience in the evidence for TR-001.