Bill of Entry filed against Transhipped consignments – Instructions - Customs - TRADE FACILITY No. 16/2014

OFFICE OF THE COMMISSIONER OF CUSTOMS CUSTOM HOUSE : COCHIN- 682009 F No. C1/01/2014 TU Cus. Pt. I Dated: 28.05.2014 TRADE FACILITY No. 16/2014 SUB: Bill of Entry filed against Transhipped consignments Instructions - Reg. Attention of Importers, Customs Brokers, Steamer/Shipping Agents (SA)/Shipping Lines (SL), Custodians of imported goods, Officers of Customs and all other concerned is invited to the Trade Facility No. 08/2014 dated 19.02.2014 issued by this Custom House regarding the implementation of a new module for Transshipment of FCL cargo from Seaport to another Seaport. The new module implemented in ICES w.e.f 07.02.2014 takes care of transhipment movements through Road, Rail or Sea. The module has the following features:- 1. Declaration of Destination Port and CFS in IGM. 2. Filing of transshipment request at Service Center of the Gateway Port. 3. Approval of request by Customs Officer and generation of Transshipment Permit. 4. Option to transship cargo either to Destination Port or directly to a CFS associated with the Destination Port. 5. Elimination of local IGM at the Destination Port Site. Thus, in the new system, it is possible to file the Bill of Entry electronically at the destination port, against the IGM filed in the gateway port. However, it has come to notice that the Bills of Entry for consignments transshipped from other gateway ports are still filed manually, mainly on account of improper filing of IGM at the Gateway port, ie, in many cases, the destination port (as Cochin) is not declared in the IGM filed at the gateway port so as to enable filing of EDI Bill of Entry at this Custom House. It may be noted that the CBEC, vide Instruction No.3 dt.07.04.2013 has reiterated that manual filing and processing of import/export documents should not be allowed except in exceptional and genuine cases where the electronic filing and processing of import/export documents is not feasible. Hence, it is informed that w.e.f 20.06.2014, manual filing of Bill of Entry would not be permitted against transshipped FCL consignments, if the request is on account of non-declaration of the destination port in the IGM filed at the Gateway port. The Shipping Lines/Agents are therefore directed to advise their counterparts at the gateway port to declare the destination port particulars in the IGM, wherever the consignments are bound for transshipment. The importers shall also insist upon their Shipping Lines/Agents sufficiently in advance to declare the destination port particulars in the IGM filed at the gateway port, so that the transshipment Bill of Entry can be processed electronically and the Bills of Entry need not be filed manually, to avoid delays at the destination port. Difficulties, if any, on implementation of the above may be brought to the notice of the undersigned. Sd/- (Dr. K. N. RAGHAVAN) COMMISSIONER OF CUSTOMS