Mohammed Mahraj-ul-Alam Samrat

As Head of Trade Facilitation and Regulatory Compliance at TRACE Consulting, Mohammed Mahraj-ul-Alam Samrat sets the strategic direction for the firm’s trade-facilitation engagements, guiding efforts to streamline cross-border operations, ensure adherence to international trade laws, and strengthen organizational compliance. Mr. Samrat leads the Customs Process component of the second Time Release Study (TRS) across six customs houses in Bangladesh (SD-13), a World Bank-funded assignment administered through the Customs Modernization and Infrastructure Development (CMID) Project of the National Board of Revenue (NBR) under the ACCESS Bangladesh Phase 1 Project.  
 

In this role, he maps the import and export clearance process from declaration to release, and examines how assessment, examination, and risk-based selectivity decisions shape clearance times. He analyzes the customs procedural steps and workflows behind delays at each customs house, and develops targeted recommendations on risk management, Post Clearance Audit (PCA), and process simplification. Working alongside Mr. Sadiq, he provides strategic oversight to ensure the study’s methodology, findings, and recommendations meet the standard expected for senior-level validation. He also guides the firm’s National Single Window and customs-automation advisory work and serves as TRACE Consulting’s senior technical resource for engagements involving Multimodal Logistics Hub (MMLH) design, freight demand forecasting, regulatory harmonization across transport modes, and risk-based selectivity and PCA advisory work. 
 

Mr. Samrat brings over 12 years of expertise in customs modernization, regulatory reform, and border management in Bangladesh, with extensive experience supporting multimodal logistics development, regulatory harmonization, freight demand forecasting, and the design and operationalization of Multimodal Logistics Hubs (MMLHs). 
 

Earlier in his career, he served at the National Board of Revenue (NBR) as Deputy Commissioner of Customs and Assistant Commissioner of Customs, contributing to the drafting of the Customs Act 2023, supporting customs automation initiatives, strengthening risk management and Post Clearance Audit (PCA) functions, and improving clearance efficiency across seaports, inland container depots (ICDs), and container freight stations (CFSs). As Deputy Director of NBR's Central Intelligence Cell, he led intelligence-based compliance review work. He has also worked directly on Asian Development Bank-financed trade facilitation assignments, including as National Trade Facilitation Specialist and Trade/Customs Expert on ADB technical assistance programs (TA-6911 SASEC Integrated Trade Facilitation Sector Development Program and TA-10291/TA-10572 BAN Logistics Sector Development), reviewing regulations governing bonded warehouses and logistics infrastructure, and supporting TRS-relevant diagnostics against WTO TFA and WCO standards. 
 

He holds a Master of Science in Forestry and a BSc in Forestry from the Institute of Forestry & Environmental Sciences, University of Chittagong, and a diploma in tax management from the University of Dhaka. His specialized training includes WCO Time Release Study methodology (NACIN, India), customs administration modernization (JICA, Japan), risk-based controls (Inland Revenue Board of Malaysia), and post-clearance audit practice under the SASEC Integrated Trade Facilitation Sector Development Program.