The National Board of Revenue (NBR) has decided to employ local consultants to supervise the unfinished works of installing container scanners at Chittagong Port, the New Nation reported.

The NBR move, which is expected to save US$200,000, came as the two foreign companies, UK-based Customscan Limited and France-based Peter Southwood and Associates, that had taken part in the Expression of Interest (EoI) failed to come up with their response.

The local supervision team, comprising officials and experts from Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission, Chittagong University of Engineering and Technology (CUET), Chittagong Port Authority (CPA) and project office, will supervise the installation of the three re-locatable container scanners at the port.

The revenue-collecting authority is installing four container scanners at the port to prevent the export of illegal arms and other dangerous items. The installation is going on under the Chittagong Port Trade Facilitation Project (Custom House Component).

The EU countries have made it mandatory to have container scanners at ports by 2009 while the USA deadline is 2010 for importing any consignment from another country.