Bangladesh Customs’ baggage rules are written around a distinction the page itself never fully explains: a “non-tourist” passenger versus everyone else. Most of what is publicly verifiable here applies specifically to that non-tourist category, and we are flagging that up front rather than papering over it.
Personal effects and equipment are duty-free, for the category the rule covers
The published allowance states: “Duty free import of personal effects, books, magazines, portable professional equipment etc. under baggage.” This is framed for non-tourist air and sea passengers, which is the group the source’s language is built around.
Electronics and similar items are capped by count, not value
Rather than a dollar figure, the limit here is a quantity per item type: “duty free facility is given for the items (mobile phone 2 sets and all other items not more than one of each item) contained in Schedule 3.” Two mobile phones are allowed; every other item named in the customs authority’s Schedule 3 is capped at one. We do not have that schedule itself — the customs authority does not publish it — so we are not going to reconstruct or guess at its full contents. Check the source directly for what Schedule 3 names beyond mobile phones.
Gold and silver have specific, separately stated limits
“Each passenger is also entitled duty free import of gold ornaments not exceeding 100 grams or silver ornaments not exceeding 200 grams (one type of ornament not more than 12 pieces).” The 12-piece cap applies within a single ornament type, alongside the weight limits.
Land ports get a dollar-value allowance the other routes do not
“Travelers entering the country through land ports are entitled to a duty free allowance for goods of a maximum value of US$400.” This figure is stated specifically for land port entry. The source does not give us an equivalent dollar-value allowance for air or sea non-tourist passengers, whose allowance above is described by item and quantity rather than total value, so we are not assuming the two are equal or interchangeable.
The paperwork, and who can stop you in the green channel
“All non-tourist passengers are required to submit Baggage Declaration Form to the Customs Authority” on arrival. That declaration requirement sits alongside a broader enforcement power: “if the Customs officer on duty has any reasonable basis to suspect that a passenger is carrying dutiable goods, he/she may challenge a passenger passing through the green channel.” Choosing the green channel is not, on its own, protection from being stopped.
Beyond the schedules, it becomes a permit and a possible penalty
For goods brought in commercial quantity beyond what the schedules allow, the rule is explicit: “such items will be released on production of import permit from the CCI&E office and payment of duties and taxes and fine and penalty.” The source names the requirement (a CCI&E import permit, plus duties, taxes, a fine, and a penalty) without stating specific amounts for the fine or penalty.
“Non-tourist,” the term the rules hinge on, goes undefined
The rules above turn on whether a passenger counts as “non-tourist,” and Bangladesh Customs never defines that term or explains where an ordinary tourist’s allowance differs. It also does not give a dollar-value duty-free threshold for air or sea arrivals to set alongside the $400 land-port figure, and it does not state what the fine and penalty for undeclared commercial-quantity goods actually cost. If your situation depends on any of these gaps, the National Board of Revenue’s page above, or a direct question to Bangladesh Customs, is the next step rather than a guess.