Chattogram Custom House has started relocating to temporary offices at the World Trade Centre in Agrabad, with the move rolled out in stages from 1 November.
In the first phase, seven assessment groups, sections 8-C and 8-D along with sub-teams 12 to 16, began working from the new premises. The rest of the offices will follow once the Public Works Department finishes preparing the space, with handover expected by the end of November. Authorities aim to run the custom house fully from Agrabad in the first week of December.
Why the move
The World Trade Centre is a temporary home while a new permanent customs building, funded by the World Bank, is developed. Under a lease signed on 5 May with the Chittagong Chamber of Commerce and Industry, which owns the building, customs gets about 156,600 sq ft of office space and 8,000 sq ft of garage space. The move had originally been planned for July.
What traders should watch
The shift comes as customs tries to speed up clearance. It announced round-the-clock service, including weekends and public holidays, in September. An NBR study in April found that containerised imports took an average of 13.2 days to clear in 2026, up from 11.3 days in 2022. Importers and C&F agents should check which section has moved before visiting.
Based on reporting by Maritime Gateway.
Photo: Raihan Rana / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
