Before arriving in Bangladesh, I didn't really know what a passbook was. I was told I would need to request one after arriving at post but that is about it. Upon arrival I learned the full title is Customs Passbook. Taking a step back, the US government and Bangladeshi government have an agreement and as a part of this agreement, the programs funded by the USG are not subject to tax - including import and customs duties. So after a month of collecting signatures from folks at USAID and the GoB and paper processing, I have been issued a. . .wait for it. . .Customs Passbook for Privileged Persons.
I have been waiting the arrival of this valuable document for a few reasons, the first is that the freight forwarder waits until this document is secure before processing my shipment of household goods. Getting things through customs has proven to be a problem in this country - A bit of background, at the beginning of our project all of our computers were stuck in customs for 9 months and I have heard a rumor that two vehicles of another project have been in customs for nearly one year. Back to TheAndie, my shipment has now left the US and is scheduled to arrive in London on November 20th, progress! So it should arrive in Dhaka in the next week. The second, lessor, reason is that I can now access the 'diplomatic warehouse.' Read liquor store. As a 95% Muslim country, the sale of alcohol is restricted.
With the great powers that come with this book of sorts, I was expecting something a bit more . . .official looking than what is showing in the photo above. Yes, it is a photocopy. And standard 11x13 paper folded, then stapled, then covered with tape. Though not pictured, the inside is all hand written. I am pretty sure this could have been made by my nephew, Jacob, age 3.
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