FFFAI made representation to the Member Customs, CBIC
MUMBAI : FFFAI Chairman Mr. Shankar Shinde felicitated Mr. Surjit Bhujabal, Member (Customs), CBIC, during their recent visit to North Block, New Delhi to make a representation to improve the speed for customs clearance in order to enhance the TRS and EODB performance. The Federation of Freight Forwarders’ Associations in India (FFFAI) team was headed by Mr. Shankar Shinde along with the Chairman Elect Mr. Dushyant Mulani; Vice Chairman Mr. AmitKamat, Mr. Rajesh Verma, Hon. Secretary Mr. Vinod Sharma, Hon. Treasurer Mr. Mr. SudhirAgarwal and Advisor Mr. S Ramakrishna.
The representation made to the Member (Customs), CBIC was pertaining to issues faced by EXIM Trade in Faceless Assessment, to bring specific timelines of 24 hours for Ocean cargo and 12 hours for Air cargo in Customs Clearance. Time bound Customs clearance will help the country for saving unproductive expenses on demurrage and detention charges being paid by the industry.
Measures to improve the export performance and facilitate the export trade were also discussed. Enhancing the performance of ICEGATE and EDI system were discussed in detail for improving the LPI.
According to Mr. Shinde, with evidence the FFFAI team highlighted the way forward to improve Faceless Assessment with timeline accountability having monitoring dashboard system for trade visibility in achieving high standard of customs clearances. They have also emphasised on training for both trade and Customs officers at ground formation for assessment and seamless cargo operations to reduce dwell time and transaction cost. Implementation of Robust IT system with zero downtime and backup support for 24X7 operations were also highlighted.
The FFFAI representation pointed out that Customs Notifications implementation with immediate effect disturbs the regular flow of trade and requested that any changes in policy with regard to restriction / prohibition or duty structure with advance intimation will help trade to cope up with changes and also mitigate heavy charges incurred on account of Shipping Lines Detention charges and taking cargo back to town with simplification of processes.
Further the FFFAI Chairman informed that the issues on Shipping lines detention and Custodians charges, which are being incurred by exporters resulting in additional cost for no fault of exporters, were also brought to the notice of Mr. Bhujabal for immediate relief to the trade. Such consignments are subject to re-negotiation with buyers due to additional duty levied and require time to realign orders resulting in cancellation of orders due to non-commercial viability.