Benapole Port Reopens After NBR Staff End Strike

Import and export activities at Benapole Land Port have resumed following the withdrawal of all forms of protest — including pen-down and shutdown programmes — by officers and employees of the National Board of Revenue (NBR). The move has restored normalcy and brought renewed activity to the entire port area, offering relief to the business community. Full-scale operations at the port and customs offices resumed on Monday morning (June 30). Sazedur Rahman, General Secretary of the Benapole C&F Agents’ Staff Association, said, “After a week-long deadlock, all activities, including import and export through the Benapole-Petrapole border, resumed this morning. There is renewed activity among customs and port officials and labourers. However, due to a shortage of trucks, many goods cannot yet be unloaded. Things are expected to return to normal within a day or two.”

Benapole Port Director Shamim Hossain said, “As the NBR has withdrawn all protest programmes, operations — including import and export — have fully resumed at Benapole Port. Between 9:00 am and 11:00 am, 35 Indian goods-laden trucks entered the port, while 20 trucks carrying goods were exported to India from Benapole.” On Sunday (June 29) at around 9:30 pm, the NBR announced its decision to withdraw the protest programmes at a joint press conference held at the office of the Bangladesh Chamber of Industries (BCI) in Tejgaon, Dhaka. Earlier, NBR officials and employees had observed a pen-down strike from 9:00 am to 12:00 pm and again from 2:00 pm to 5:00 pm at the beginning of last week. The situation escalated on Saturday when a full shutdown was declared, bringing the country’s import-export operations to a standstill. Customs activities at all land ports, including Benapole, were halted, paralysing goods clearance. This resulted in revenue losses and severely impacted trade.

In response, top business associations in the country urged a swift resolution. Following multiple rounds of discussions with the government, NBR employees decided to call off their protest to restore normalcy. The NBR Reform Unity Council had been staging protests for several months, demanding structural reforms, promotions, neutrality in the workplace, and the preservation of dignity within the NBR.