The Hindu Business Line : ‘Clear cargo within 3 days or pay penal charges’

With computerisation taking place in the Customs Department, the Government feels that there should be little problem in reducing the time for cargo to be cleared from airports.

Our Bureau

New Delhi, Aug. 17 From October 1, exporters and importers would be required to get their cargo packages cleared from international airports within three days or pay penal charges.

This was decided after the fourth meeting of the Civil Aviation Core Group, a multi-disciplinary body set up to reduce the time within which cargo packages should be cleared from international airports.

Penal interest

Currently exporters and importers are charged penal interest if they do not clear their consignment within five days. The Group is headed by the Secretary Civil Aviation and has representatives from Airports Authority of India, Bureau of Civil Aviation Security, Customs and the Ministry of Commerce. The Government, however, has no plans to increase the penal charges that are being levied for not clearing consignments from the airports.

With computerisation taking place in the Customs Department, the Government feels that there should be little problem in reducing the time for cargo to be cleared from airports. “When most of the forms custom forms are not only available online but can also be submitted online, there should be no reason for cargo consignments staying at the airport for extended periods of time. It was, therefore, decided that the free time allowed for clearance of cargo should be cut,” an official said.

Time taken

Currently, the time taken for clearing cargo at airports around the country varies. While on an average it takes 129.66 hours or 5.4 days for a cargo package to be cleared at the Chennai airport, in Delhi it takes about 160 hours or about 6.6 days to get final customs clearance and leave the airport.

There are, however, some cargo consignments particularly those belonging to the IT and auto industry that are cleared within a day of arrival, official sources said.