India, with its enormous population, can
face a humungous challenge while distributing the Covid-19 vaccine, and that is why the
government is mulling regulatory changes to quicken the procedure of its transportation,
according to a report by the Business Standard.
The government is planning to set up air freight stations (AFS), an off-airport common user
facility that offers service for handling and temporary storage of import and export cargo, for
direct movement of vaccines from pharmaceutical factories to the aircraft.
As per the plan, export and import clearances for cargo, including Customs activities will be
provided at the AFS and it will be constructed near the sites of vaccine production.
Other crossborder regulatory agencies such as the plant quarantine office and drug controller office will also
be accommodated in the AFS.
This move will help to reduce the dwell time, the time that a cargo consignment takes to leave
the airport premises after obtaining all the Customs permits and security clearances.
As per
reports, in airports like Delhi and Mumbai, it takes more than 75 hours for a cargo consignment
to get clearance whereas it is less than six hours in Singapore, Dubai, and Hong Kong airports.
“We are discussing if it is possible to move vaccines directly from the factory to the aircraft. We
are also discussing the concept and procedure with security agencies like the Bureau of Civil
Aviation Security and Customs,” before adding that it is necessary for the vaccine to quickly
reach to the aircraft from the manufacturing sites.
The government is already planning to vaccinate a large population by mid-2021 and has
formed a task force to carry out the operation. A sub-committee of this task force is focusing on
building cold storage facilities and smooth transfers of vaccines from airports to vaccination
centres. The Airports Authority of India’s (AAI’s) subsidiary AAI Cargo Logistics and Allied
Services Company may be tasked with building the AFS if permitted by the government.
The
task force has also asked the Directorate General of Civil Aviation to ensure a faster approval
process for overflight and landing permits for foreign freighter jets carrying vaccines.
But, executives of private airports are learnt to have opposed the move.
“Commercial business viability would be a challenge for airport operators as well as for AFS
operators. Both will offer similar services, leading to work duplication, impacting the viability of
airports that have invested in building cold chains,” an executive of a private airport told the
publication.
23/11/20 Deccan Herald
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