Dhaka, Jan. 2 -- The National Board of Revenue (NBR) has launched fully online services enabling direct exporters to obtain Utilisation Permissions (UPs), aiming to expedite the import of raw materials and reduce lead times.

Under the new system, the Customs Bond Management System (CBMS) software has been made mandatory for all UP application and approval processes. An office order to this effect was issued by the NBR on Thursday.

According to the order, all UPs will now be issued online through the three Customs Bond Commissionerates operating under the NBR.

As a result, the manual submission, acceptance and approval of UP applications have been discontinued with immediate effect.

The NBR introduced the CBMS software on January 1, 20...