Indian Customs Urge Traders to Use Direct Services

MUMBAI, INDIA - An Open House Meet was jointly organized by World Trade Centre Mumbai and All India Association of Industries (AIAI) on January 24, 2017. Dr. John Joseph, Chief Commissioner of Customs, Mumbai Zone II, Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) said, “Exporters and importers should take advantage of Direct Port Delivery (DPD) and Direct Port Export (DPE) schemes of the customs to expedite cargo clearance.”

“Exporters and importers must take advantage of the Direct Port Delivery (DPD) and Direct Port Export (DPE) systems for speedy movement of goods between the port and the factory gate. Our customs department enables importers to take immediate delivery of cargo, by allowing them to pay customs duty after two weeks (subject to a few qualifications). Our customs authorities can clear inward cargo in one or two days, if importers opt for the DPD service,” said Dr. Joseph. The DPD service helps importers save up to Rs. 9,000 per box of imported cargo by making redundant movement of goods to a warehouse. “We want at least 60% of import cargo to be cleared under the DPD scheme,” he said.

Dr. Joseph added that JNPT customs authorities had taken steps to clear more than 90% of cargo within four days, a remarkable improvement over 9-10 days, a norm in the past. He also assured importers and exporters that duty drawback would be provided within 24 hours of submitting documents.

Addressing the participants, Mr. S. K. Vimalanathan, Commissioner, Central Excise, Thane, informed that customs authorities had introduced a single-window-clearance-system to clear cargo in 24 hours. He said that customs authorities would soon modify the electronic data interchange (EDI) system to ensure that drawback claims were settled, as soon as exporters submitted the export general manifest. India is moving towards an integrated customs management system whereby EDI, ICEGATE and Risk Management systems would be integrated to provide seamless customs service.

Mr. Vijay Kalantri, Vice Chairman, World Trade Centre Mumbai said, “Exporters and importers, especially in the micro, small and medium (MSME) sector face a lot of operational issues complying with the customs, excise and service tax procedures. The government must rationalize the tax regime, and simplify the system by adopting digitization. These will lead to better revenue collections. The tax authorities should also set up redress forums to ensure honest tax payers are not punished.”

In photo (L-R): Dr. Joseph John, Chief Commissioner of Customs, Mumbai Zone II, JNPT and Mr. Vijay Kalantri, President AIAI & Vice Chairman, WTC Mumbai.

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