Procedure for a Pilot on Transhipment of Export Cargo from Bangladesh to third countries through Land Customs Stations (LCSs) to Nhava Sheva Port, in containers or closed bodied trucks - Customs - PUBLIC NOTICE NO. 83/2019

सीमाशुल्क आयुक्त कार्यालय - एन . एस . II जवाहरलाल नेहरू सीमाशुल्क भवन , न्हावा शेवा तालुका - उरण , जिला रायगड , महाराष्ट् -400707 F. No. S/12-Gen-Misc-07/2018-19 AM(X) Date: 24.09.2019 PUBLIC NOTICE NO. 83/2019 Subject: Procedure for a Pilot on Transhipment of Export Cargo from Bangladesh to third countries through Land Customs Stations (LCSs) to Nhava Sheva Port, in containers or closed bodied trucks Reg. Attention of the importers, exporters, custom brokers and all other stakeholders is invited to the Circular No. 42/2018-Customs, dated 02.11.2018 issued by the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) and its subsequent amendments dated 29.11.2018 and 05.08.2019 on the subject mentioned above. 2. Various references have been received from trade and industry for permitting transit of export cargo from Petrapole to Kolkata and Nhava Sheva ports / Kolkata airport for better cargo evacuation and to improve logistics efficiency of the region. 3. The matter was examined. Section 54 of the Customs Act, 1962 allows transhipment of goods through India, for which the CBIC is empowered to prescribe a form - Bill of Transshipment and a procedure. Before prescribing the procedure by way of a regulation, it was 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 and also to include safeguards against any cargo diversion. The pilot was further extended for 3 months till 05th August, 2019. Since the matter is under examination and to prevent disruption of operations under pilot, Board has decided to further extend it for another 6 months, i.e. till 05th February, 2020. 4. The facility is available from the following LCSs and ports/air cargo complexes w.e.f. 5th November 2018: Sl. No Name of LCSs Name of Port/Air Cargo 1 LCS Petrapole By road to Nhava Sheva port 2 LCS Petrapole By rail to Nhava Sheva port LCS Gede/Ranaghat 5. The following procedure has been prescribed for allowing the transhipment: (i) A bill of transshipment ( Annex-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 transshipped to port for export to third countries, shall be filed at the LCS by the shipping line or their authorised representative, including a customs house; (ii) The import report filed by the transporter (for goods moving by road or rail) shall specify the port through which the cargo is meant to be transshipped and state the destination port of discharge. No cargo meant for discharge in India is permitted to be brought in the same truck/container/wagon, carrying the transhipment cargo; (iii) The bill of transshipment shall be presented in triplicate to the proper officer (Superintendent of Customs) for permitting transhipment; (iv) While presenting the bill of transshipment, the authorised representative of the shipping line or the airline shall produce an Electronic Cargo Tracking System (ECTS) seal for sealing the closed body in truck or container, as the case may be. The seal number shall be declared on the bill of transshipment; (v) The ECTS seal shall be procured by the shipping line or the authorised customs broker at their own cost. Presently, the ECTS services are being offered by M/s Transecur Telematics Private Limited (wwww.transecur.com) under ADB s pilot program for monitoring of traffic in transit of Nepal; (vi) The bill of transshipment 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. (vii) Upon the proper officer (Superintendent of Customs) permitting transshipment, 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. In case of movement by rail, the same shall be undertaken by CONCOR or any other rail operator who have been approved by the Indian Railways to operate container trains and who have been conferred the status of Authorized Economic Operator LO by CBIC; (viii) The original copy of the bill of transshipment 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 port. The triplicate copy shall be retained by the authorised representative of the shipping line. (ix) Upon reaching the port of loading, the transference copy of bill of transshipment shall be submitted by the person-in-charge of the conveyance to the proper officer (Superintendent of Customs); who shall check the ECTS web application for seal integrity and if there is no alert regarding unauthorized unsealing, the ECTS seal shall be removed and returned to the person-in-charge of the conveyance. (x) The proper officer (Superintendent of Customs) at the gateway port shall permit the goods to be loaded on board the vessel, by recording his order on the bill of transshipment; (xi) The details of the sea manifest (export manifest) shall be recorded on the bill of transshipment as well as uploaded on the ECTS web application upon which a Trip Report will be generated at the port and LCS for record. The transshipment 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 transshipment to be sent to the LCS. (xii) 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 of Preventive General/JNCH for action as appropriate. 6. The contents of this public notice shall operate as a standing order so far as officers and staff of Jawaharlal Nehru Custom House are concerned. 7. Difficulty, if any may also be brought to the notice of Deputy / Assistant Commissioner in charge of Appraising Main (Export) through email address: [email protected] and Phone No : 022-27244979. Sd/- (Sanjay Mahendru) COMMISSIONEROF CUSTOMS NS-II, JNCH