Jacket with camera for use by the vessel Boarding Officer at Tuticorin Customs - Procedure - Reg. - Customs - PUBLIC NOTICE NO. 14 / 2023

Ministry of Finance Department of Revenue Office of the Commissioner of Customs Custom House, New Harbour Estate Thoothukudi -628004. Tel: 0461 2352655, 2352633 /Fax 0461 2352019 C.No.VIII/48/03/2020-Cus.Pol. Dated: 26.04.2023 PUBLIC NOTICE NO. 14 / 2023 Subject : Jacket with camera for use by the vessel Boarding Officer at Tuticorin Customs - Procedure - Reg. Attention of all stake holders viz., Shipping lines, terminal operators. logistic partners, custom brokers, businessmen, Vessel owner /Master etc. are invited towards the CBIC Circular No.07/2022-Customs dated 07.03.2023, through which the Board has extended the use of boarding jackets fitted with Body Worn Camera (BWC) with video / audio recording facility by Boarding Officers while carrying out duties on board vessels from 15.04.2023 with respect to the sea customs functions. 2. In this regard, the following procedures shall be followed by the Boarding Officers.- [i] The Boarding Officer shall wear the jacket with their name and badges before boarding thevessel. The Body Worn Camera shall be placed on the right side at a Space specifically designed to hold the body camera. The camera shall be placed upright to capture the image of interaction with vessel s crew and verification process clearly. [ii] The recording camera would be positioned in such a manner so that those watching the footage see the situation from the Officer s perspective. [iii] Boarding Officer shall activate their camera at the start of their boarding duty on approaching the gangway and make people aware that they are being recorded. The recording shall be continued uninterrupted until the Boarding Officer de-boards the Vessel, and reaches back at the end of the gangway. [iv] To ease out any inconvenience to stakeholders, the Boarding Officer in advance shall inform the Shipping Agent / Line that the recording of boarding functions is mandatory. The Shipping Agent / Line, in turn, will inform the Master of Vessel for smooth completion of Boarding functions. [v] The Body Worn Camera used by Boarding Officer is a stand-alone device without Wi-Fi or SIM functionality. If the Safety Officer of the Vessel carrying hazardous cargo opines that the usage of the Body Worn Camera is not safe in certain areas inside the Vessel or entire Vessel, then the endorsement to that effect shall be taken from Safety Officer, and the Boarding Officer will not use Body Worn Camera while in identified area, if required. The Boarding Officer shall inform the Assistant / Deputy Commissioner (Docks) who in turn will bring this to the notice of Joint / Additional Commissioner (Docks) for independent cross-verification. Any difficulty faced in implementation of this Public Notice may be brought to the notice of the undersigned. ( K.V.V.G DIWAKAR ) COMMISSIONER