• Investment World
• eWorld
• Brand Line
• Mentor
• Life
• Canvas
• Praxis
• Urban Pulse
• Brand Quest
• The New Manager

Stocks

• Quotes
• SE Diary
• Scoreboard
• Open-End Mutual Fund

Cross Currency

• Rates
  
  

Shipping

• Ports
  
  

Archives

• Yesterday
• Datewise
• Resources
• In Focus
• In Depth

Group Sites

• The Hindu
• The Hindu ePaper
• Business Line
• Business Line ePaper
• Sportstar
• Frontline
• The Hindu eBooks
• The Hindu Images

Coimbatore, Aug. 26

Members of the Coimbatore Custom House and Steamer Agents Association (CCHSAA) feel the delay in getting the electronic data interchange (EDI) facility for Coimbatore - that will speed up Customs handling of exports - has dampened the export initiative of the region.

The manual processing of Customs formalities including the filing of shipment as is being done now is causing delay in clearing export cargos moved out of Coimbatore, forcing flight of throughputs out of the region's dedicated inland container depots (ICDs) as shippers prefer booking their cargo direct at the gateway ports bye-passing ICDs here, the CCHSAA has said.

The three ICDs and one air-cargo complex in the city catering to the shippers continue to witness stagnancy in export cargo volume for the past two years, though Coimbatore region's export volume per se kept rising during this period.

Convenience

The shippers in Coimbatore, having tasted the operational convenience through the EDI facility available at gateway ports, opt for direct shipping as this route gets them hassle free shipment processing including the early realisation of export incentives such as the duty drawback or DEPB claims.

Sources at CCHSAA claim that shippers operating through ICDs at Coimbatore had to wait for more than six months to get the drawback realisation whereas those using the gateway ports are able to get the realisation within a week or so.

The shippers and the export cargo handling agencies in the city were promised the EDI link at Coimbatore some four years ago but Customs authorities are yet to introduce the link here. Besides smoothening the shipment processing, the online processing and clearance of export incentive claims through direct credit into shippers' bank accounts provided under EDI is seen as hassle-free.

Gateway draw

In the absence of EDI, the average monthly volume of cargo booking through ICDs in Coimbatore remained stagnant at 700-750 TEUs (twenty equivalent units), whereas the volume of cargos being taken to gateway ports, in this case either to Kochi or Tuticorin ports directly by the exporters, has made a two-fold increase in the last two years, the association members say.

They add that the volume of such direct cargo transfers would work out to another 750 TEUs or even more as the region has been showing a 25 per cent year-on-year export cargo growth for the past two years, thanks to rising garment, casting and tea shipments from Coimbatore to Europe, Middle-East destinations.

The castings exports especially have risen significantly from the region.

Besides the private ICD located at Thudiyalur, the two other ICDs are operated by the CWC at Singanallur and Concor in Irugur. In addition to this, an international air cargo facility is run under the management of the Airport Authority of India.

Vacancy ire

The CCHSAA members are also cross that the post of an assistant commissioner (Customs) has been vacant for a long time now. The functions under this post, as overall Customs nodal officer at the ICDs, are being looked after by a deputationist-officer from the Central Excise department. This has caused uncertainty in getting Customs formalities cleared on day-today basis, they feel.

More Stories on : Shipping | Excise and Customs | E-Governance | Tamil Nadu

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page

Stories in this Section
Are bigger box-ships better?

Copyright © 2007, The Hindu Business Line. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu Business Line