The Commissioner of Customs, Chennai (airport and air cargo) has, in perhaps a first, allowed the import or export of courier items as personal carriage on board a flight by authorised courier agents through the Chennai airport.

This means a person will fly to a country carrying a confidential document or say an export item (up to a value of Rs 50,000) of a client to be delivered abroad. This will be a personalised service for a specific client. Similarly, a person can bring such courier from abroad, according to sources. The Facilitation Notice (5/2011) issued recently by the department says that under the scheme, the agent will be permitted to carry items as personal carriage on behalf of an exporter who is otherwise permitted to import such goods only according to the Courier Imports and Exports (Clearance) Regulations of 1998.

The export courier parcels, which are permitted as hand carriage, will be permitted for export only against a courier shipping bill.

Exporter

For an exporter, the scheme could be of great help if some items or say a tender document needs to be sent abroad at the last minute. For instance, if the item is to be delivered in China, sending the parcel through a courier company will take at least four days to deliver the courier. However, by sending through a person, the item will reach in less than 48 hours, the source said.

Regarding imports, the agent will pay the necessary duty on arrival and get the items cleared, the source said.

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