Procedure for a Pilot on Transhipment of Export Cargo from Bangladesh to Third countries through Land Customs Stations (LCSs) to Kolkata Port/Airport, in containers or closed bodied trucks - Customs - PUBLIC NOTICE NO.: 110/2018

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA OFFICE OF THE COMMISSIONER OF CUSTOMS (AIRPORT ADMN) AIR CARGO COMPLEX, NSCBI AIRPORT: KOLKATA 700 052 F.No. S40-56/2018 ACC (ED[) Pt. Date: 16.11.2018 PUBLIC NOTICE NO.: 110/2018 Subject: Procedure for a Pilot on Transhipment of Export Cargo from Bangladesh to Third countries through Land Customs Stations (LCSs) to Kolkata Port/Airport, in containers or closed bodied trucks. Board's Circular No 42/2018- Customs dated 02.11.2018 on the above mentioned subject is brought to notice. 2. References have been received by CBIC from trade and industry for permitting transit of export cargo from Petrapole to Kolkata Airport and Kolkata Port / Nhavasheva Ports for better cargo evacuation and to improve logistics efficiency of the region. 3. The matter has been examined. Section 54 of the Customs Act, 1962 allows for transhipment of goods through India, for which the Board is empowered to prescribe a form - Bill of Transhipment and a procedure. Before prescribing the procedure by way of a Regulation, it has been decided that a Pilot Program will be initiated for a period of six months, to gain experience and obtain feedback from industry, so as to build a Regulation which is facilitative as well as include safeguards against any cargo diversion. 4. The facility shall be available from the following LCSs and ports/Air Cargo Complexes with immediate effect: SI. No Name of LCSs Name of port/ air cargo 1 LCS Petrapole i. Kolkata Port ii. Air Cargo complex, Kolkata 2 i). LCS Petrapole ii). LCS Gede/Ranaghat By rail to Nhavasheva port 5. The following procedure is being prescribed for allowing the transhipment: (i) A Bill of Transhipment ( Annexure--A ) in respect of goods (being transported by road in a close bodied truck or as containerized cargo) brought to the LCS intended to be transhipped to Port/ Air cargo for export to third countries, shall be filed at the LCS by the Shipping Line or Airline or their authorised representative; (ii) The Bill of Transhipment in respect of goods (being transported by rail in a closed wagon or as containerized cargo) brought to the LCS and intended to be transhipped to the Port/ air cargo for export to third countries, shall be filed by the Shipping Line or Airline or their authorised representative at the LCS; (iii) The shipping line or airline intending to carry the cargo to be transhipped will be at liberty to authorize a Customs Broker for filing the Bill of Transhipment; (iv) The Import Report filed by the transporter (for goods moving by road or rail) shall specify the Port/ Air Cargo through which the cargo is meant to be transhipped and state the destination Port or Airport of discharge. No cargo meant for discharge in India is permitted to be brought in the same truck/container/wagon, carrying the transhipment cargo; (v) The Bill of Transhipment shall be presented in triplicate to the proper officer (Superintendent of Customs) for permission; (vi) While presenting the Bill of Transhipment, the authorised representative of the shipping line or Airline shall produce an Electronic Cargo Tracking System (ECTS) seal for sealing the closed body truck or container, as the case may be. The seal number shall be declared on the Bill of Transhipment; (vii) The ECTS seal shall be procured by the shipping line or airline or the authorised customs broker at their own cost, Presently, the ECTS services are being offered by M/s Transecur Telematics Private Limited ( http://www.transecur.com ) under ADB's Pilot Program for monitoring of traffic in transit of Nepal; (viii) The Bill of Transhipment shall be accompanied by a Bond ( Annexure-B ) for an amount equivalent to twice the value of the goods, which may be specific to the consignment or a general bond; there shall be no need for the proper officer to obtain any security or surety; (ix) Upon the proper officer (Superintendent) permitting transhipment, the goods may be unloaded from the Bangladeshi vehicle and loaded on to an Indian Truck under customs supervision. However, if the cargo is brought to the LCS by an Indian truck, then the same vehicle may be allowed to carry the cargo to the port or airport. In case of movement by rail, the same shall be undertaken by CONCOR; (x) The original of the Bill of Transhipment shall be retained by the LCS while the duplicate copy (transference copy) shall be carried with the cargo by the driver in a sealed envelope to the Kolkata Port / Airport. The triplicate copy shall be retained by the authorised representative of the shipping line or airline. (xi) This facility of Transshipment will be available only at Air Cargo Complex (ACC), NSCBI Airport, Kolkata. Once the cargo arrives at ACC, the transference copy of Bill of Transhipment shall be submitted by the person-in-charge of the conveyance to the proper officer of Customs i.e. Superintendent (Transhipment) at ACC. The proper officer shall check the status of the seal integrity using the web application using handheld reader/device provided by M/s Transecur. If there is no alert regarding unauthorized unsealing, the ECTS seal shall be removed and returned to the person-in-charge of the conveyance. Proper officer shall make endorsement on Bill of Transhipment: and the cargo may be allowed entry in the area earmarked at the ACC for storage of such cargo If any relabeling is required, the same may be permitted by AC/DC, ACC. This will he under Customs supervision and in the area earmarked for this purpose in ACC itself. (xii) Once the ECTS seal checking and relabeling of cargo, if any, is completed, the proper officer shall permit the goods to be loaded on board the aircraft by recording his order on the Bill of Transhipment. Copy of :Bill of Transhipment will be handed over by the Customs Superintendent to the Preventive Officer (EFO). EFO, on the basis of order on Bill of Transhipment will ensure boarding of cargo under his supervision. (xii) The details of the Air Manifest (EGM) shall be recorded on the Bill of Transhipment as well as uploaded on the ECTS web application upon which a Trip Report will be generated at the Airport and LCS for record, The Trarishipment Bond can then be duly credited or cancelled, as the case may be. There will be no need for a physical copy of the Bill of Transhipment to be sent to the LCS. All the hard copies of documents related to Transhipment will be safely and securely maintained by Preventive Officer working under supervision of Customs Superintendent (Transhipment). (xiii) In case the trip report indicates any unauthorized un-sealing, the matter shall be brought to the notice of the Deputy/Assistant Commissioner/Superintendent of Customs, Air Cargo Complex, N.S.C.B.I. Airport, Kolkata (Telephone No. 033-251 13122; Email Id- scpedi-acckol@gov. in for taking appropriate action, 6. Difficulties, if any, faced in the implementation of this Public Notice may be brought to the notice of the undersigned. (Manish Chandra) Commissioner of Customs (Airport Admn) Air Cargo Complex, N.S.C.B.I. Airport, Kolkata