1.
” Study on Trade Facilitation Gap Analysis for Border Clearance
Procedures in India, undertaken on behalf of the Centre for WTO Studies,
Indian Institute of Foreign Trade, New Delhi, and supported by Ministry of
Commerce, Govt. of India,
“Some estimates suggest that the
transaction cost in imports and exports in India is around 15 per cent of the
cost of the goods.
If the time taken for clearance of import and
export cargo can be brought down by 5 days from the present 10 days, there will
be significant savings for the economy as a whole.
This is only to highlight the
importance of Trade Facilitation to the economy. Further, competition in the
international market place is getting more and more intense and unless India
incrementally improves the efficiency in expediting the flow of goods at
minimum time and cost, its competitiveness in international market would continue
to be adversely affected
That consignment of ACP clients would be
considered as low risk and normally such import consignments of ACP clients
will not be subjected to examination.
A more liberal view in respect of
imports by those qualified under Accredited Client Programme (ACP) should be
adopted.
Delay
in the transportation of containers to
CFS due to monopoly of the Shipping Agents ,even , the
Commissioner of Customs, Chennai had issued a public notice permitting the
importers/CHAs to move the containers from the Terminal to the CFS but the
Shipping Agents filed a writ petition against the Public Notice and obtained a Stay Order from
the Hon‟ble High Court.
The system of stacking the containers, lack of
adequate labour and equipment and the shortage of officers contribute to the
delay in the examination
It
is important to remember that today, the attempt is to create an environment of
trade facilitation. There is a need for a shift in the focus from penal
provisions to facilitation measures. This need not mean that violations of the
law should be overlooked A more liberal view in respect of imports by those
qualified under Accredited Client Programme (ACP) should be adopted”.