The Hindu Business Line : Handloom exporters' plea on Customs provision

THE members of the Karur-based handloom textile exporters want the Finance Ministry to put on hold the recently amended Customs provision that stipulates mandatory filing of the export general manifest (EGM) of export cargo by shipping lines well before the departure of the vessels.

Currently, the prevailing practice in the export trade is that the shipping agents accept export cargo from the shippers eight to 12 hours in advance.

But the amended provision of the relevant Customs Act issued recently, if implemented strictly, will entail delivery to the shipping agents 72 hours in advance of the date of departure of the vessel.

This will prove a difficult task for shippers, a representation from the Handloom Export Promotion Corporation (HEPC) Chairman, Mr M. Sivakkannan, sent in this regard to the Union Finance Ministry, stated.

The HEPC communication said that the council members are already fighting against the stiff deadlines to complete shipments of quota items before December 31 to meet the preparedness for the WTO's quota phase-out and as such, planning the dispatch of goods to reach the port even two clear days in advance is found to be a difficult exercise.

In this background, it would be in the interest of the textile exporters that the amended Customs provision relating to the EGM be kept in abeyance at least till December this year so as to enable the shippers complete all their export commitments without any bottlenecks/confusion, prior to the new WTO regime comes into being by January.

More Stories on : Handloom | Exports & Imports | Tamil Nadu

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