Tag: customs clearance

Customs delays worrying as festive sales may be impacted: Croma’s Ghosal

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Customs clearance delays at Indian ports have increased to almost a month now. Industry sources blame poor roll out of the faceless assessment system and lack of quick resolution by authorities for the crisis.

Some products are in short supply because of the delay in customs clearance, said Ritesh Ghosal, CMO of Croma in an interview with CNBC-TV18.

“In the first four days of festive sales, we saw great growth but whether these are sustainable or not is a question because of shortages,” he added.

Air purifiers and steam inhalers, were seeing 50 percent growth year-on-year, Ghosal said, adding that microwave sales were getting impacted due to custom delays.

Kamal Nandi, Business Head & Executive Vice President, Godrej Appliances said he expects 15 percent year-on-year growth in October and November.

He said that strong demand for home appliances was not just pent-up, but was partly structural as well.

Nandi expects full year revenues to be down 10-15 percent year-on-year, but this would still be better than estimates of a 30 percent decline few months back.

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KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Delays in customs clearance crippling India’s import-export industry

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Customs clearance delays continue to cripple the Indian industry as they have extended from the earlier 15-20 days to 25-30 days, and in some cases clearance is being given after over a month, sources told CNBC-TV18. The industry and custom brokers are citing the poor rollout of faceless assessment for the delays.

The sectors that are being impacted by the delay has expanded. Earlier, delays were faced primarily by automobiles, auto ancillary, electrical machinery, metals, chemicals and medical equipment. However, now labour intensive sectors and domestic manufacturing are also getting impacted, due to the delay in release of goods.

According to export agencies, the delay is worsening the situation as the current period is peak business time ahead of the Christmas break. Export agencies have claimed that there are no containers available and freight rates have shot up substantially. They believe that there is an urgent need for regulatory body to regulate the operations.

Moreover, exporters have said that the farmer protest in Punjab has held up 5,000 containers, which is creating a lot of issues for the sectors involved.

Sharad Kumar Saraf, President of the Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) told CNBC-TV18 that the situation at Indian ports has worsened.

“There has been no change in the customs clearance situation. Rather, delays have now increased to over a month. Faceless assessments is a welcome step, but authorities are taking more time to address on-ground issues. Authorities are not taking any concrete action to address the backlog. Today even containers are not available and freights rates have shot up substantially. There is an urgent need for a regulatory agency to regulate the operations of shipping lines.

“There is an added stress due to Punjab farmers’ protest and about 5,000 containers have been held up in Punjab itself. Overall, the situation is grim and is hurting India’s reputation as a stable supplier. India is unable to meet global contracts, due to the delays. Operations have been hurt as this is the peak business season ahead of the Christmas break. Orders need to be shipped at the earliest. Not just import- export, the domestic manufacturing is also being severely impacted,” Saraf said.

Expressing similar sentiments, Trade Promotion Council of India, Chairman Mohit Singla told CNBC-TV18, “The customs clearance delays and unavailability of containers at the port are impacting the export sector negatively. The food and beverage industry is getting huge orders from across globe despite the reeling teething time, but the unavailability of containers at ports is leading to delays beyond the tolerance threshold of F&B, food processing industry, clothing, leather, pharma, medical equipment and chemicals, etc.

“Adding to the woes, is the new system of faceless assessment which is further delaying as staff at customs are still not fully trained to handle clearances. There has to be a separate regulatory authority functioning independently, which should ensure single window clearance and managing demand and supply of containers. India should have its own shipping line to avoid unnecessary delays.”

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KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Fresh challenges for businesses at Indian ports, faceless assessment delays customs clearances

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Fresh troubles have started grappling the Indian industries as import-export shipments are getting delayed yet again at Indian ports, this time because of the poor rollout of faceless assessment for customs clearances.

Sources told CNBC-TV18 that “a minimum of 15-20-day delay has been witnessed across Indian ports, over the last fortnight, which is leading to delays in production, meeting contract deadlines and hurting businesses.”

“These delays are due to the faceless assessment launched by the customs department,” customs brokers told CNBC-TV18.

Some of the industries which have been severely impacted are automobiles & auto ancillary, electrical machinery, metals, chemicals and medical equipment, the sources added.

A phased rollout of faceless assessment by customs started in the first week of September and the customs department now aims to do a pan-India rollout from 31st October.

Talking to CNBC-TV18, Sharad Kumar Saraf, President, Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) says, “Industry has been facing a delay in clearance of shipments, for both imports and exports for the last 15-20 days, across the country. This is basically due to non-cooperation by customs. Implementation of faceless assessment is leading to these challenges for the industry. Almost all industries are impacted. Imports are hurt more than exports. This is leading to introducing hurdles in India’s Ease of Doing Business aim. The faceless system is indeed welcome but the customs officials need proper training for achieving the intent.”

Dinesh Dua, Chairman, Pharmexcil says, “Faceless assessment is a great initiative that government has undertaken as a part of Ease of Doing Business initiative which was welcomed by one & all in the industry. However, lower-level officials have started raising huge objections which was never the case prior to the faceless assessment to defeat the very essence of a great initiative. It’s seriously affecting the industry & will further slow down the recovery of GDP. This huge aberration must be rooted out by sheer data & analytics in customs clearances over 6 months pre & post faceless assessment to get to the bottom of the issue & ease Industry’s woes.”

Taking cognizance of the on-ground challenges, customs issued a fresh circular on 12th October, which provides a dashboard for better monitoring of all pending clearances and gives a guide to the field formations to reduce pendency in real-time. In this circular, customs has given various scenarios to ensure a smooth rollout. It also provides a window for grievance redressal.

“These are initial teething troubles, now that a new system is in place, capacity building has been initiated and soon expertise will develop to help ease these challenges,” said a senior customs official.

Not just this, in Delhi, the delays have further accentuated due to a massive labour strike at air cargo which is delaying the courier services as well, sources said.

Raman Raj Sud, President, Delhi Custom Broker Association told CNBC-TV18, “The situation in Delhi is even worse, Delhi is seeing a labour strike at the Delhi Air Cargo and along with this, the delays caused due to faceless assessment are pushing the consignments further. The industry is facing challenges, due to the pandemic and these two issues are adding to the woes.”

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KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

24×7 Customs clearance at all sea ports, airports till June

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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To facilitate faster clearance of consignments, the CBIC has extended the 24×7 customs clearance facility at all sea ports and airports by a month till June 2020.

In a letter to all Chief Commissioners (Customs and Central Tax), the CBIC said as the situation of COVID-19 pandemic is still prevailing and trade continues to face challenges… as a measure of facilitation, CBIC has decided to extend the facility of 24 7 Customs clearance at all the Customs formations till June 30, 2020 .

In February, the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) had said 24×7 Customs clearance facility will be available at all sea ports and airports till May 2020, to address any congestion or delay or surge on account of the prevailing conditions due to outbreak of COVID-19.

Chief Commissioners are therefore requested to make proper arrangement for the same and deploy sufficient number of officers on 24 7 basis at sea ports/Air Cargo Stations/Inland Container Depot (ICDs)/ Container Freight Station (CFSs) etc falling in their jurisdiction, CBIC said.

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KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Were customs officials polite, courteous? give feedback on arrival at Delhi international airport

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Were the customs officials you interacted with polite and courteous? How quickly were your customs formalities cleared?

Passengers coming from abroad can now give their feedback on these questions at an electronic kiosk inaugurated on Wednesday at the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport here.

The kiosk at the international arrival hall of the airport has been set up to gather feedback from passengers on ease of customs clearance.

After inaugurating the e-kiosk, chairman of the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) S Ramesh said that the customs has been keeping pace with international best practices in respect of passenger as well as cargo facilitation.

“Technology is being used in all aspects of customs functioning to reduce dwell times and to engage constructively with stakeholders,” he said.

Ramesh said similar feedback mechanisms would be implemented at other international airports in metropolitan cities of the country as well.

“This (e-kiosk) is representative of our constant endeavours to further the ease of doing business and to conscientiously seek stakeholders’ inputs in order to serve them better,” said S K Sawhney, Principal Chief Commissioner of Delhi customs.

Although, the customs has conducted passenger satisfaction surveys in the past, the e-kiosk would enable collection of response in real time.

Passenger feedback gathered from the e-kiosk would be used to bring in further improvement wherever required, a statement issued by the customs said.

“How do you rate your overall customs clearance experience at IGI airport,” reads another question, that allows passenger to choose their response from four options– unsatisfactory, satisfactory, good and excellent.

Commissioner S K Sinha, Additional Commissioner Amandeep Singh, Assistant Commissioner Kalrav Rakesh Mishra and senior officials of the Bureau of Immigration were among those present at the inauguration ceremony.

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KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow