Transhipment of Courier Shipments to other Customs Airports - reg. - Customs - 41/2012

OFFICE OF THE COMMISSIONER OF CUSTOMS BANGALORE CUSTOMS COMMISSIONERATE C.R.BUILDINGS, QUEEN'S ROAD, BANGALORE - 560001 C. No VIII/48/68/2008 CusTech Date: 04.10.2012 PUBLIC NOTICE NO. 41/2012 CUS Sub: Transhipment of Courier Shipments to other Customs Airports - reg. Attention of trade and Officers is invited to the transhipment procedure prescribed vide Public Notice No. 10/2007 dated 24.01.2007 and Public Notice No.01/2011 dated 24.01.2011. The matter has been further examined and the updated procedure for transhipment of courier shipment to other stations shall be as given hereunder. 2. Goods imported by Authorized Couriers shall be allowed for transhipment by the Assistant/ Deputy Commissioner of Customs (Courier), Bangalore International Airport, Devanahalli Bangalore subject to fulfilment of provisions of section 54 and 55 of the Customs Act, 1962 ( Act ) and Goods Imported (Conditions of Transhipment) Regulations,1995 (l 'Transhipment Regulations ) and Courier Import Exports (Clearance) Regulations, 1998 ( Courier Regulations 1998 ). 3. Custodian , declarant and transporter , as defined in the Transhipment Regulations, mean the Express Industry Council of India (EICI) and M/S DH Lemuir Logistics Pvt Ltd, the Authorised Courier and the concerned airline, respectively. 4. Assistant/ Deputy Commissioner of Customs (Courier) may allow the transhipment on an application made by the Authorised Courier, subject to the following conditions: (i) Transhipment Regulations are followed; (ii) The goods are transhipped only to the Customs Airports at Delhi, Chennai, Kolkata, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Thiruvananthapurarn, Kochi and Coimbatore; (iii) The transhipment shall only be allowed by Air; (iv) The goods which require specific conditions to be fulfilled under any other Act for the time being in force or any rule or regulations made thereunder shall not be allowed for transhipment. 5. The Authorised Courier shall execute a bond equal to the value of the goods under transhipment with a bank guarantee for an amount equal to 10% of the bond value. The Bank Guarantee furnished should contain a self renewal clause in-built in the guarantee itself in terms of the master circular No. RBI/2010-11/67 dated 1.7.2010 issued by the Reserve Bank of India. The terms of bond shall be that if the authorized courier produces a certificate from Customs of the destination port for safe arrival of goods there, the bond shall be discharged. In case, such certificate is not produced within 30 days or within such extended period as the Assistant/ Deputy Commissioner of Customs (Courier Cell) may allow, an amount equal to the value, or as the case may be, the market price of the imported goods shall be forfeited. 6. To avoid multiplicity of bonds, the Authorised Courier is allowed to execute mother bond instead of individual bonds. The mother bond is like a running bond. The value of mother bond can be arrived at on the basis of aggregate value of the total imported shipments handled by the Courier within a financial year. To avoid block age of funds in the form of bank guarantee an option is given to the Authorised Courier to furnish either running bank guarantee or individual bank guarantees for each transhipment. Individual bank guarantee for each transhipment shall be released as soon as the landing certificate from destination Customs is produced to the satisfaction of the Assistant Commissioner/ Deputy Commissioner of Customs (Courier). 7. The bond, or the mother bond, as the case may be, shall be debited at the time of transhipment of the imported goods and the same shall be credited on receipt of proof of safe landing of the subject goods from the destination Customs/ stations to the satisfaction of the Assistant Commissioner/ Deputy Commissioner of Customs (Courier). 8. The Authorised Courier, after ensuring that the subject goods are specifically mentioned in the import manifest as for transhipment, has to file an application for transhipment permit along with copies of airway bills to Customs. The Customs scrutinizes the details furnished by the Couriers in the application for transhipment. In case, the documents are in order and there is no alert notice against the courier, permission for transhipment is granted by the Customs. A fee of Twenty Rupees in respect of each application for TP of the goods shall be charged by the Customs. 9. On arrival of the flight, the transhipment cargo should be segregated in Custodian's premises. After unloading of imported goods under the Customs supervision, a Segregation Report shall be prepared duly signed by the authorized courier, Superintendent of Customs (Courier Cell) and Custodian. 10. These transhipment goods shall be X-rayed by the Authorized Courier in the presence of Inspector of Customs. 11. The goods meant for transhipment shall be transferred to the transhipment UP) godown and a transfer advice shall be prepared duly signed by the Authorised Courier. The TP godown shall be safely and adequately secured with a double lock and shall be operated under the supervision of the Superintendent of Customs (Courier Cell). 12. The authorized courier is required to file an application for transhipment of cargo to another customs station as indicated in the House Airway Bill (HAWB). The cargo transfer manifest (CTM) may itself be treated as an application for transhipment. Separate CTMs may be prepared destination wise which would be approved by the Superintendent of Customs (Courier Cell).. 13. The cargo mentioned in the CTM need to be escorted by the Preventive Officer from the TP warehouse of the custodian to the warehouse of receiving airlines which acknowledges the same. The concerned airlines /custodian of warehouse should have double locking arrangement one key will be kept with the airlines [custodian and the other with Customs for storage of transhipment cargo. In the event the airlines carrying goods on transhipment basis at Bangalore do not have their own warehousing facility at Bangalore, they shall tie-up with the other airlines having warehouse at BIAL or at a near by public / private bonded warehouse. No physical examination needs to be conducted, except on specific intelligence, for allowing transhipment and only marks and numbers of cargo earmarked for transhipment need to be verified. 14. It shall be ensured that the Cargo Transfer Manifest (containing the details of imported goods so carried) duly attested and sealed by the Customs shall be handed over to the Customs officer at the Customs station of destination in India. The goods mentioned in CTM shall be produced to the Superintendent of Customs (Courier Cell) at the said Customs station in safe and intact condition. The copy of EGM detailing such goods shall also be handed over along with the CTM. 15. Customs at the destination airport will acknowledge the receipt of the goods and return the acknowledgement manifest to the originating customs station. It will be the responsibility of the Authorised Courier to produce such acknowledgement/ landing certificate/re-warehousing certificate to the Courier cell, Bangalore Airport, within the time limits specified above. 16. The Authorized Courier should ensure that the bags containing the import goods meant for transhipment should be durable. In case of small packages, those should be put in durable big bags and shall be sealed with the Customs seal by the Inspector of Customs (Courier Cell and Superintendent of Customs (Courier Cell) in the presence of the Authorized Courier. The material required for locking and sealing shall be provided by the Authorized Courier. 17. If the cargo transhipped under the provisions of the Customs Act, 1962 is not unloaded at the place of destination in India, or if the quantity unloaded is short of the quantity to be unloaded at that destination, and if the failure to unload or the deficiency is not accounted for, then the person-in-charge of the conveyance shall be liable for penal action as per the provisions of Customs Act, 1962. 18. The Authorised Courier shall maintain record and registers in respect of transhipment of goods and shall submit them for inspection as and when directed by the Superintendent of Customs (Courier Cell). 19. The Authorised Courier, the custodian and all concerned shall conform to the instructions issued from Mme to time by Customs to ensure safe custody and transportation of imported goods meant for transhipment. (Sandeep Prakash) Commissioner