Government to classify imported goods into four colour-coded lanes for risk control

The National Board of Revenue, or NBR, is closely monitoring imported goods to tackle economic risks such as money laundering and terrorism financing.

As part of this initiative, imported goods will be categorised into four colour-coded lanes under the new Customs Risk Management Regulations, 2025, for effective risk management.

These regulations include measures to address cross-border organised crime and tax evasion hidden behind international trade activities.

The NBR highlighted this initiative in a notification posted on its website on Monday, with a date of Mar 6.

The notification defines “economic risk” as activities linked to money laundering, terror financing, tax evasion, and organised international crime.

NBR believes that these regulations will also facilitate the smoother clearance of imported goods.

The $4.7 billion loan Bangladesh secured from the International Monetary Fund, or IMF, includes conditions for revenue sector reforms, which require the establishment of a Risk Management Unit in customs.

As part of the plan, a dedicated Customs Risk Management Commissionerate, or CRMC, will be formed to oversee risk identification and classification through data collection, analysis, and review.

The system will employ intelligence data, artificial intelligence, or AI, and advanced data analysis techniques to categorise goods into red, yellow, blue, and green lanes based on their risk levels.

Red lane: Subject to 100 percent physical inspection, including document verification.

Yellow lane: Goods will undergo document checks but will not require physical inspection.

Blue lane: Shipments will be cleared without physical inspection or document checks but will be subject to auditing.

Green lane: No inspection or document verification will be necessary.

The regulations will enable the CRMC to collect data from both national and international sources to determine the nature and trends of risks, which will be analysed.

This includes surveys and research, as well as random selection criteria for shipments across customs stations and bond commissionerates.

The CRMC will regularly update these criteria, monitor the effectiveness of risk management actions, and coordinate with relevant authorities.

It will also have the authority to collect data from government, semi-government, and autonomous bodies, as well as importers, exporters, banks, financial institutions, and other agencies.

The CRMC will collect information from both within and outside Bangladesh, as well as from confidential informants.

In addition to analysis, this information will be used as criteria for risk management.