NEW DELHI : The Customs Department has suspended the Customs Cargo Service Provider (CCSP) approval granted to the Dronagiri Rail Terminal (DRT) Container Freight Station (CFS), operated by state-owned Container Corporation of India (Concor), citing serious security deficiencies and theft of export cargo. The suspension has come into effect immediately and will remain in force until further orders.
The Dronagiri Rail Terminal, spread across 59 acres near Jawaharlal Nehru Port, handles around 14,000 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) every month. The rail-linked facility operates three rail lines, runs 90-100 rakes every month and has warehousing capacity of 35,640 square metres for export-import cargo, 4,200 square metres for domestic cargo and 2,000 square metres of bonded warehousing.
According to a public notice issued by the Jawaharlal Nehru Custom House on July 22, Customs had directed all Customs Cargo Service Providers through an advisory dated June 25 to strengthen security measures and ensure strict compliance with the Handling of Cargo in Customs Areas Regulations, 2009 (HCCAR, 2009). However, it said serious security deficiencies and theft or pilferage of export cargo were subsequently detected at the Concor-operated facility despite the advisory.
Fresh Cargo Receipts Stopped
The public notice said cargo already present within the Concor DRT CFS premises as on July 22 will be permitted to be cleared for export or import after following the prescribed Customs procedures. However, fresh receipt of export and import cargo into the facility has been stopped with immediate effect.
An exception has been made for cargo where the Import General Manifest (IGM) or Sea Arrival Manifest (SAM) had already been filed by the shipping line, as well as cases where the shipping bill or bill of entry had been filed before 00:00 hours on July 23 designating the Concor DRT CFS as the destination.
The suspension comes around two months after Customs suspended the licence of International Cargo Terminal Pvt Ltd after the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) found two imported containers at the CFS were stuffed with fireworks and firecrackers originating from China, a restricted item, although the importers had declared the cargo as gypsum plaster and CMS granules. The International Cargo Terminal has a capacity to handle 15,000 TEUs every month.
With the suspension of the two container freight stations, handling capacity in the Jawaharlal Nehru Port area has reduced by around 30,000 TEUs a month. According to the information provided in the public notice, the move will add to the chaos surrounding evacuation of containers from the port’s terminals triggered by the conflict in the Middle East.
Source : BW
