‘Standard Operating Procedure’ to be followed for Export and Import at Bharat Mumbai Container Terminal (BMCT), JNCH – reg. - Customs - 78/2018

OFFICE OF THE COMMISSIONER OF CUSTOMS (GEN.) PSO, Jawaharlal Nehru Custom House, At Post: Sheva, Taluka: Uran, Dist.: Raigad, Maharashtra 400 707 F.No.S/43-230/2017-18 PSO JNCH Date :- 11 May, 2018 PUBLIC NOTICE No. 78/2018 Subject :- Standard Operating Procedure to be followed for Export and Import at Bharat Mumbai Container Terminal (BMCT), JNCH reg. Attention of Exporters, Importers, General Trade, Port Terminal Operators, Shipping Lines/Shipping Agents, CFSs coming under the Jurisdiction of JNCH, Nhava Sheva and all other stakeholders is invited to the various Public/Facility Notices issued by JNCH regarding the functioning of various parking plazas and Board s Circular No. 26/2017-Customs dated 01.07.2016, 36/2017-Customs dated 28.08.2017, 37/2017 dated 27.09.2017, 41/2017-Customs dated 30.10.2017, 44/2017-Customs dated 18.11.2017 and 51/2017-Customs dated 21.12.2017. EXPORT PROCEDURE Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) to be followed for clearance of export consignments from BMCT parking plaza is prescribed as under :- A. For Containers Eligible for Direct Port Entry Entry in the Parking Plaza and the Procedure thereof 1. On arrival of container at Parking Plaza, the Preventive Officer at In Gate of the Parking Plaza shall verify the RFID electronic seal for tampering, if any, en route, through handheld/fixed reader/scanner alongwith the Container no., Seal no., Condition of the Seal, and the other information coded into the RFID e-seal and endorse the same either on the Check list of the Shipping Bill or on the Invoice copy presented by Exporter. In case the RFID reader indicates E-seal as Tampered or if any of the details tagged to the E-seal found not matching on scanning, such containers will be required to move to CFS for Open and (100%)Examination following due procedures. On goods being found as declared in all material particular and after completion of other Customs procedure as may be prescribed, if any, LEO will be given from that CFS only and the container will be routed for further procedure. 2. In case container sealed with E-Seal is carrying export goods pertaining to more than one shipping bills, the Preventive Officer at In Gate , after verifying the RFID electronic seal and container details, shall endorse accordingly on the check list of each and every Shipping Bills or on the invoice copies in each case. 3. After ensuring the integrity of E-Seal and verifying the information tagged along with it, the Preventive Officer at In Gate shall allow the movement of the container in the Holding Area of the Parking Plaza. 4. Based on the endorsement made by the Preventive Officer at In Gate , the Shipping Bill would then be processed for registration in the Document Processing Area inside the Parking Plaza. Let Export Order (LEO) shall be granted by Superintendent, Parking Plaza after verifying and endorsing Form E-13 as per the extant procedures following RMS instructions. 5. After LEO, Preventive Officer at Out Gate of the Parking Plaza will give clearance in Terminal Operating System (TOS) for particular vessel, on a separate PC after verifying the LEO granted by Superintendent of Customs. 6. Shipper/Exporter/CHA will approach the Pre-Gate Counter at Parking Plaza for Pre- gate transaction. B. For Containers cleared from CFSs 1. After LEO, CFS performs pre-gate transaction on/after issuance of Form-13 by Shipping Line. 2. For CFS containers, no approval is required from Customs in TOS. 3. Customs will view container movement in TOS as they move from CFS through gates. C. For Non-ICD Containers arriving by Train Since the railway track in BMCT port area is not fully operational, all the containers arriving by train meant for Export through BMCT will arrive in the JNPT port area through JNPT railway track. Hence, all Non-ICD containers, arriving by train and carrying export goods will be taken out of JNPT station through Truck trailers to BMCT Parking Plaza in case of Eligible Exporters entitled for Self sealing. However, for this movement of containers from JNPT to BMCT Parking Plaza, the Terminal Operator shall accordingly get the Carrier Bond modified already furnished by the Carrier concerned(CONCOR/Hind/Gateway etc.) to include the BMC Terminal in the Bond and furnish a copy of the same to this office in pursuance of the Board Circular No. 02/2015- Cusotms dated 15.01.2015. Thereafter, the procedure to be followed in the Parking Plaza for Export is same as explained in Para A of the previous page for Direct Port Entry (DPE) containers. D. For ICD Containers arriving by Train As mentioned in the above para, the BMCT Operators shall get the Carrier Bond modified already furnished by the Carrier concerned (CONCOR/Hind/Gateway etc.) to include the BMC Terminal in the Bond for transfer of containers from JNPT to BMCT. The same containers shall be taken to the BMCT Parking Plaza for further procedure and documentation. Also, BMCT operator will submit a Monthly Report of all the containers moved in this way. Entry in the BMCT premise and the Procedure thereof for ICD containers 1. When the loaded TT enters the Parking Plaza, Parking receipt would be generated by the terminal staff and given to the CHA which will contain the Container No., Seal No., date and time of entry of TT and the name of the terminal. 2. Preventive Officer posted at In Gate of the Parking Plaza shall verify the RFID electronic seal for tampering, if any, en route, through handheld/fixed reader/scanner alongwith the Container no., Seal no., Condition of the Seal, and the information tagged to the RFID e-seal . In case the reader reads the RFID E-seal as Tampered or if any of the details tagged to the E-seal found mis-matched on scanning, such ICD containers will also be required to move to CFS for Open and Examination following due procedures. After Open and Examination , LEO will be given from CFS only and the container will be routed for further procedure. 3. After ensuring the integrity of E-seal and after verification of the information tagged along with it, the Preventive Officer at In Gate will verify the LEO documents given by ICD officials, endorse them and clear the container. Then, the container will move towards the Out gate of the plaza . The Preventive Officer at the out gate will give approval in the TOS after verification of the documents. Then the container will come out of the plaza and move towards the In gate of the port for further procedure. For Containers/ TT s Approaching and Entering Terminal Gate :- 1. Truck Trailers (TT) carrying Export containers shall approach the Terminal In- Gate after exit from Parking Plazas. 2. For the TT s approaching Terminal s gate, the Terminal officials will generate Drop-off-Ticket (DOT) after verifying the Form-13 and will give Bay Allocation Ticket (BAT) to the TT s driver. 3. The CISF personnel at Terminal In-Gates shall physically verify the details such as TT number, Container No, Driver details available on Drop-Off-Ticket (DOT) and allow the TT inside the Port Area. 4. A simultaneous live feed at Terminal Gate will be made available to Customs officers at Parking Plaza Cabin as well as at Terminal Gates. 5. Random check of container as well as the seal verification to the extent of minimum 10% to 15 % will be done by the Preventive Officer at Terminal Gate and if noticed any discrepancies, shall be brought to the notice of the Deputy Commissioner (Preventive General), JNCH. A record of such checks shall be maintained on daily basis in a separate register. 6. The TT carries the container to the designated yard location as indicated in DOT. Exit At Termial Gate :- When outbound after offloading container, TT will swipe BAT/Key at Terminal Out gate to close transaction. REFRIGERATED (REEFER) CONTAINERS CONTAINERS CONTAINING PERISHABLE GOODS :- 1. In order to ensure expeditious clearances of such cargo, it must be ensured that the provisions mentioned in the Public Notice No. 35/2017 dated 17.03.2017 are duly complied with. It is reiterated that if a Shipping Bill is RMS facilitated, it will be processed at Parking Plaza for issuance of LEO, however, if such shipping bill is not RMS facilitated and selected for examination, such Reefer containers/Perishable cargo Containers under self-seal system shall also be routed through CFS for examination and completion of Customs procedures. 2. For those containers/export consignments which have been routed to CFS as per RMS instructions, registration of Shipping Bill at Parking Plaza would be cancelled on the basis of the endorsement of the Gate Officer of CFS to which container has been moved for Open and Examination procedure. GENERAL DIRECTIONS (FOR ALL) 1. In order to create a trust based environment where compliance in accordance with the extant laws is ensured by strengthening Risk Management System and Intelligence setup of the department, Board has done away with the sealing of containers by the Officers of the department in case of eligible exporters. Exporters/stakeholders are expected to plan movement of their cargo in such a way so as to ensure that any container entitled for Direct Port Entry enters the Parking Plaza for processing of LEO well before the Cut off time leaving sufficient time for completion of Customs and Terminal formalities. It is also emphasized that too early movement of cargo to port area clogs the limited space available at Parking Plaza and severely restrict the traffic manoeuvrability in the area which affects every other user and adversely impacts dwell time. It is therefore expected of Exporters/CHAs and other stakeholders to plan and arrange their logistics in an optimum manner. 2. Since, the conventional bottle seals are done away with and the RFID E-seals have been made mandatory in the Export containers as per the Board Circular No. 51/2017 dated 21.12.2017, all the export containers arriving with bottle seals shall be subjected to Open and Examination in the exporter s preferred CFS. However, for some of the categories of containers like Over dimensional Cargo Containers, ISO tanks Trailers and Open Top Containers, where the use of regular RFID E-seals is not possible because of the peculiarity of structure of cargo/sealing requirements, the use of conventional methods of seals is allowable till further instructions. 3. Transport document for movement of self-sealed container by an exporter from factory or warehouse shall be same as the transport document prescribed under the GST Laws. In the case of an exporter who is not a GST registrant, Way bill or Transport challan or Lorry receipt shall be the transport document. 4. In case, the self-sealed container is selected for examination by the ICES on account of RMS instructions, Superintendent Parking Plaza (Admin) shall allow movement of such container to the CFS of choice. 5. In case of multiple containers on a single Shipping Bill, all the containers shall have to enter Parking Plaza for seal verification by the Gate Officer for checking of the integrity of the seal and verifying encoded information. 6. In case of Shipping Bill having multiple containers and e-seal of any one or more found to be TAMPERED by the Customs Gate Officer, all the Containers of the said Shipping Bill will be moved to CFS for open and examination and clearance as Dock Stuffed Cargo . RESPONSIBILITY OF PORT TERMINAL OPERATOR 1. It is the responsibility of the Port Terminal Operators to ensure that all the provisions mentioned in Public Notice 73/2017 dated 08.06.2017 are duly complied with. 2. Parking Plaza/ Terminal Operator shall make arrangements for adequate facilities for charging of refrigerated containers in the Parking Plaza as soon as possible. 3. Terminal Operator will develop centralised Parking Plaza with modern facilities and provision all the requisite facilities/amenities to the Customs staff posted at the Parking Plaza and Gates and to the staff of the CHA/Exporters as per the Handling of Cargo in Customs Area Regulations, 2009 . IMPORT PROCEDURE Customs have been provided with a cabin inside the Terminal gate, having access to ICES and TOS. This facility is to be used for verification of Out of Charge in respect of DPD containers and monitoring for other containers. A. For DPD Containers 1. For DPD Containers, Preventive Officer at the Import Yard will verify the genuineness of the Out of Charge issued earlier from ICES by Boarding Office/DPD cell as well as information uploaded in Terminal s TOS after verifying the seals of the imported containers. Then, he will give online approval for the movement of such container in the TOS . 2. At gate, TT will swipe BAT and CISF will view details and clearance and if found to be correct, will permit exit from port terminal. B. For CFS/ICD bound Containers 1. No approval is required from Customs in the Terminal Operating System. 2. Customs will view container movement in TOS as they are delivered as live feed of containers exiting and passing through Port Terminal gate would also be available to the Customs (in the Cabin inside the Terminal) for monitoring. 3. Customs may conduct checks on the basis of intelligence/specific inputs as and when required. NOTE :- Import Containers selected for Scanning arriving at BMC Terminal will be sent for scanning at CWC District Park Fixed Scanner only until the scanners are installed and become operational at BMC Terminal and the Scanning of Containers will be carried out as per the extant procedures. Functions of Customs Staff/Gate Officers Posted at BMCT 1. It will be the responsibility of the Customs Staff posted at BMCT to ensure that the BMTC parking plaza is manned round the clock. Sufficient manpower for the purpose shall be provided by the PSO section of JNCH. In case of any rush of containers/TTs at Parking Plaza, additional staff will be provided from floating strength by PSO section. 2. It is to be ensured that the Documents Processing pertaining to the various categories of Export Containers is carried out as per the due procedure mentioned in the Para A of this Public Notice. 3. For the purpose of timely export, due priority is to be accorded to the Reefer containers and Containers containing Perishable cargo during Documents processing in the Parking Plaza. 4. Since the concept of RFID E-seals has been recently introduced by Board, it is conveyed that the various provisions mentioned in the relevant Board Circulars i.e. Circular No. 26/2017-Customs dated 01.07.216, 36/2017-Customs dated 28.08.2017, 37/2017 dated 27.09.2017, 41/2017-Customs dated 30.10.2017, 44/2017-Customs dated 18.11.2017 and 51/2017-Customs dated 21.12.2017, and other relevant instructions issued from time to time, must be strictly complied. 5. Due precautions must be taken while handling the various Hand held readers provided at the various Parking Plazas and CFS gates for checking the E-seals for Export Containers. 6. For facilitation of trade and ease of doing business, it is the responsibility of the Customs staff to go through the various Public Notices and Board Circulars issued in this regard. EFFECTIVE DATE :- This Public Notice shall come into force with immediate effect. In case of any difficulty, the specific issue may be brought to the notice of Deputy Commissioner of Customs, Prev. (General). This issues with the approval of the Chief Commissioner of Customs, Mumbai Customs Zone II. Action to be taken in terms of decisions taken in this Public Notice should be considered as Standing Order for the purpose of officers and staff. Sd/- (UTKAARSH R TIWAARI) Commissioner of Customs (NS-Gen)