Removal of procedural bottlenecks in Docks/CFSs-reg. - Customs - 49/2015

Government of India Office of the Commissioner of Customs (Port) 15/1, Strand Road, Custom House, Kolkata-700001 F. No. S106-63/07 A(G) Pt. VII(2015) Date: 04-12-15 PUBLIC NOTICE NO. 49/2015 Subject: Removal of procedural bottlenecks in Docks/CFSs-reg. With a view to facilitate the trade, remove procedural bottlenecks, and enhance ease of doing business, following measures are being introduced :- (i) Sometimes, after Out of Charge Order is given, importers prefer to take their goods after de-stuffing the same from the containers. As per prevailing practice, importers are required to take Asstt./Dy. Commissioner (Docks/CFS)'s permission for de-stuffing the containers. This practice in Kolkata Port is at variance with practice followed at other ports, like Chennai, Munbai and Nhava Sheva wherein importers / Customs brokers directly approach concerned Supdt./Preventive Officers under whose supervision de- staffing of the cargo is done. Requirement of Asstt./Dy. Commissioner (Docks/CFS)'s permission invariably causes delay as such Asstt./Dy. Commissioner (Docks/CFS) is required to supervise inspection/examination of goods over larger area, he is on the move and many a times he is not available in his office chamber. Therefore, it is decided to do away with the present practice. Henceforth importers! Customs brokers, after getting Out of Charge Order, may directly approach the concerned Supdt./Preventive Officers, who will allow and supervise de-stuffing of goods from the containers. (ii) It has been a long-standing demand of exporters/Customs brokers that registration of Shipping Bills should be allowed till late in the evening. According to them, sometimes, where the Cut Off Time falls on the next day, they have very short time to complete the Customs formalities. Therefore, if the registration is allowed till late in the evening, the Customs formalities could be completed on the same day. The matter has been examined. It is seen that after registrations of a lot of Shipping Bills are done, they are taken up for inspection/examination of goods, which goes on till late in the evening. It therefore appears that it may not be feasible to allow registration till late in the evening as it would delay the inspection/examination till late in the night. However, considering the difficulties faced by the trade, it is decided that registration of Shipping Bills at Docks/CFS shall be allowed till 3 P.M. Beyond that, any request for registration of Shipping Bills may be allowed with the approval of Asstt./Dy. Commissioner (Docks/CFS) on case to case basis. (iii). Another request made by exporters/Customs brokers is that part clearance may be allowed in case of consignments consisting of many containers wherein all containers do not land on the same day. Since, Out of Charge Order is given for all the containers, clearance is allowed only after all containers are received. The matter has been examined. It is decided that importers/Customs brokers shall present the bill of entry along with a complete container-wise packing list. They shall also present the list of containers which have arrived. Thereafter, examination in respect of containers which have arrived shall be done by the Dock officers and if found in order, a manual Out of Charge Order shall be given on the hard copy of the bill of entry. Subsequent lots shall be inspected/examined manually. When the final lot of the containers is received, the officer will examine and give Out of Charge Order to this lot also. Thereafter, he' will submit all the examination reports into the system and will generate Out of Charge Order in the ED! system. This facility shall be available to consignments which pave 5 or more containers. (iv). There has been a practice of taking Removal Guarantee at Kolkata port. Whenever an importer takes a loaded container delivery, i.e a container along with goods, he gives a Removal Guarantee to the Preventive Officer at the shed. By this guarantee, he assures that he will bring back the said container after de-stuffing. The issue has been examined. The import and export of all the shipping container is regulated by the Container Cell at Custom House. They take appropriate bonds and bank guarantees to ensure proper import and export of shipping containers. In view of this established procedure, it is felt that there is no need for taking another Removal Guarantee at Shed by the Preventive Officers. Accordingly, it is decided that henceforth importers/brokers need not submit any Removal Guarantee. Any difficulty faced in the implementation of the above may be brought to the notice of the undersigned. F. No. S106-63/07 A(G) Pt. VII(2015) Date: 04-12-15 (Dr. N.K. Soren) Commissioner of Customs (Port) Custom House, Kolkata