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Customs Circular No- 14/2007 dated 16.03.2007
International transshipment of LCL containers at Indian Ports- regarding.
The Board has received references from the trade and industry on the issue of
introducing a procedure for transshipment of goods meant for ports outside
India. The Consolidators Association of India has also made certain suggestions
and have projected the benefits in terms of earnings in foreign exchange,
attraction to foreign investment, employment opportunities, freight benefits to
Exim Trade, low transshipment cost etc.
2. The issue has been examined by the Board. As per sub-section (2) of section
54 of the Customs Act, 1962 transshipment of imported goods to any place outside
India, shortly referred as ‘International transshipment’ is allowed. However,
such transshipment facility is not allowed in respect of prohibited goods under
section 11 of the Customs Act, 1962. Presently, international transshipment of
imported goods in Full Container Load (FCL) is being permitted by the field
formations. Board has decided to introduce transshipment facility for imported
goods in Less than full Container Load (LCL) also at approved places under the
jurisdiction of identified Custom Houses. To begin with, such facility would be
provided at Cochin, Chennai, Tuticorin and Nhava Sheva. This additional facility
would also be a measure of trade facilitation and is expected to provide
transshipment facility to international shipping lines and enable ports to act
as Transshipment Hub in the Indian Ocean region.
3. The following procedure shall be adopted on arrival of the international
transshipment (ITP) containers of Less than Container Load (LCL) cargo,-
(i) The application for international transshipment of FCL cargo can be made by
master of the vessel or his authorized agent, Non-Vessel Operating Common
Carrier (NVOCC) or any other person duly authorized in this behalf by the
foreign supplier.
(ii) No goods for international transshipment should be unloaded from the vessel
until the permission for the same has been given by the AC/DC authorized in this
behalf by the Commissioner of Customs, on the basis of manifested details in IGM.
(iii) The ITP container details such as Container Number, broad description of
goods etc. shall be mentioned in the Import General Manifest. In the electronic
manifest, there are fields for specifying (a) Port of destination, and (b)
‘cargo movement’ code. For cargo movement, there are three codes which need to
be filled correctly with proper port of destination. These are explained in
details as follows:
(1) ‘LC’ – Local Cargo: This refers to the port code where cargo is delivered.
It is the same as the port of arrival.
(2) ‘TC’ – Transshipment Cargo: It refers to international cargo and the port of
destination shall be the port code where transshipment cargo is destined to or
delivered.
(3) ‘TI’ – Transshipment to ICD: This is the local cargo where the cargo meant
for transshipment to hinterland port i.e. ICD. The port of destination is the
port code of the ICD.
As regards the electronic manifest message, there is a field to specify that
whether the cargo is FCL or LCL or ‘EMPTY’. This field is called ‘Container
Status’. The line and the sub-line numbers provide the inter-linkage between the
cargo details and the container details. Therefore, the existing EDI System in
ICES can be used for Customs documentation and processing.
(iv) The unloading of such ITP containers at gateway port would be in presence
of Customs Officers. The containers would be taken to approved place / premises
under Customs escort. Custodian of such premises would provide a segregated
secure space for ITP containers.
(v) Customs Officers would examine the Seal of the ITP Containers. In case of
tampering of the Seal, such Container should be immediately resealed with the
Customs Seal in the presence of the Custodian / Shipping agent and same should
be recorded. Such containers will be examined 100% by the Customs Officers and
findings recorded thereof. Such cases will be put up to the AC / DC in charge
for further action.
(vi) LCL Cargo meant for a foreign port (any port outside India) would be
de-stuffed in the presence of Customs Officer and stored in a secured area as
provided by Custodian. LCL Cargo may contain consignments meant for
transshipment to any port outside India (Foreign Port) as well as consignments
for home consumption or transshipment to Inland Container Depot (ICD). This
would necessitate segregation of the two types of cargo at the time of
de-stuffing and moving them to respective storage areas under customs escort.
Till such time, sufficient precaution should be taken to avoid duplication /
mixing up or manipulation of cargo meant for Transshipment / Home-consumption.
(vii) Whenever the LCL cargo are required to be exported to foreign destination,
The re-stuffing of such LCL Cargo meant for the foreign port along with the
export cargo would be done under the supervision of a Customs officer. Further
Container would be sealed in presence of a Customs Officer.
(viii) The details of LCL cargo would be entered in Export General Manifest.
(ix) Custodian would maintain the record of ITP LCL cargo, both loaded and
unloaded, and submit a monthly summary to Customs. He shall execute a general
bond for an amount equal to the approximate value of goods expected to be
imported in 30 days for the purpose of international transshipment. In such
bond, custodian should undertake to export transshipment cargo within 30 days or
within extended period as Commissioner may allow and follow all the relevant
Acts, Rules & Regulations in force.
(x) Custodian would be responsible for safe handling of the LCL cargo and ensure
that there is no intermixing of ITP LCL cargo with other cargo lying with the
custodian.
4. International transshipment of cargo needs to be effected within 30 days of
Entry Inward of the importing ship. The permission for transshipment would not
be given to cargo having arms, ammunition, explosives and other cargo considered
as constituting a threat to the security/safety and integrity of the country and
other goods attracting prohibition under section 11 of the Customs Act, 1962.
However goods which are ‘restricted’ as per the Foreign Trade Policy may be
permitted for transshipment to destination abroad. Further, transshipment shall
not be allowed to any port / destination, in respect of which any order or
prohibition is in force for the time being. Commissioners may also prescribe any
additional safeguard for securing safe transshipment. The provisions of Section
48 relating to the procedure in case of goods not transshipped within 30 days
after unloading shall apply to the goods meant for transshipment as these are
covered under the scope of “imported goods”.
5. In order to introduce international transshipment of LCL containers, the
Custom Houses need to identify suitable premises within the approved place under
their jurisdiction for the purpose of safe custody of imported goods and for
such other authorized operations. Commissioners should adopt consultative
approach with the stakeholders / operators to identify particular premises for
such international transshipment. Following factors may be considered by the
Commissioner for identification of the premises,-
(i) Location of the premises.
(ii) Availability of adequate infrastructure - modern handling equipment for
loading, unloading of containers from rail flats, chassis, their stacking,
movement, cargo handling, stuffing/de-stuffing, refrigerated storage facility
for perishable cargo etc.
(iii) Availability of sufficient secured area for segregation/ consolidation of
cargo and for its safe handling.
(iv) The premises need to be connected with Custom House on EDI to handle the
transshipment in ICES.
(v) Experience of Custodian in handling import export matters and working
knowledge of Customs Act, rules and regulations.
(vi) Logistics arrangements including constraints, if any, in movement of
containers between approved place / premises and port.
6. The above instructions may be brought to the notice of the Trade immediately
through appropriate Public Notice. Jurisdictional Commissioners may also
indicate detailed operational procedure, taking into account the requirements,
physical movement involved in carrying goods to the approved place / premises
etc. at individual Customs stations, keeping in view of the Board’s
instructions.
7. Receipt of this Circular may kindly be acknowledged.
F.No.450/99/2005-CUS-IVYours faithfully
(Anupam Prakash)
Under Secretary to the Government of India
Phone No.23094182