Importers fret over delay in cargo clearance

Bangalore: Importers are fretting over delays in clearing the import cargo at the Bengaluru International Airport (BIA). The dwell time, or the time cargo remains in a terminal's storage awaiting clearance, has gone up to seven days.
Importers are incurring extra costs on account of this delay. Some importers are even looking at the option of shipping their goods out of the Chennai airport.
The trouble began when the Air Cargo Complex in BIA migrated to the Indian Customs Electronics Data Interchange System 1.5 (ICES 1.5) software version to expedite the process of clearing customs documents. The upgraded software was initially marred by technical glitches and software bugs. While the bug issue has been resolved, various other problems are said to have cropped up. Importers say there is even a shortage of customs officers and lack of co-ordination between different players in the ecosystem.
But the customs department blames the importers. "Importers and their agents take three days to file bills of entry. Another two to three days goes in paying the customs duty. Why can't they pay the duty online? There is also a provision to file advance bills of entry, which they don't use. How is it that GE Healthcare, 3M and IBM get their cargo cleared in a day?" asks the commissioner of customs in Bangalore, B Bhattacharya.
But the custom house agents (CHAs) blame the software for delays in entries. There are about 1,200 bills of entry made every day.
27/01/11 Shilpa Phadnis/Times of India

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Categories: Airports Jan 2011, Cargo Jan 2011, Foreign Jan 2011