The import and export clearance takes a minimum of 4 days and in the unfortunate scenario, it takes maximum 10 days. And as per the reports, the estimated average time for import and export clearance is around 5.8 days. Now to give relief to the customs, the government took a big step.
The government has cut down the time of import and export clearance by 300 hours and also has reduced the transaction costs. These cut downs were only possible because of the “various initiatives”.
International Customs Day
- 26th January is considered as the International Customs Day.
- It was formed on 26th January 1952 by the World Customs Organisation.
- The World Customs Organisation is dedicating 2019 to the swift and smooth cross-border movement of goods, people and means of transport.
- The slogan of the theme of 2019 is “SMART borders for seamless trade, travel, and transport”.
In 2018, India secured the all-time highest rank in the Ease of Doing Business with the rank 77. From 146th rank, India made a “quantum jump” to 80th rank in India’s Trading Across Borders, the highest by any nation.
Reform Measures by Customs
- Mandatory filing of import declaration within a specified time.
- Introduction of e-Sanchit made the entire process of consignment clearance faceless and paperless i.e digital.
- Implementation of electronic sealing for the containers by the exporters under the self-sealing procedure to strengthen the Risk Management System.
- This also creates a trust-based environment by using the tamper-proof e-seals instead of physical seals which were used earlier.
These reform measures helped in reduction of the clearance of export containers. The reform measures, under the protection of the National Trade Facilitation Action Plan 2017-2020 are being monitored at the highest level. The National Trade Facilitation Action Plan 2017-2020 aims to improve the entire efficiency of the cross-border clearances.
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The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs chairman Pranab K Das said “In pursuance of the goals spelt out in the plan, Customs, in conjunction with other border agencies and stakeholders, have been making efforts to bring down the cargo release time through both policy and procedural interventions to remove bottlenecks. An improved inter-ministerial co-operation in pursuance of various trade facilitation measures including the single window, active participation by the industry and regular monitoring by Customs through time release studies have made “significant and positive change” in the perception of the trade and international analysts”.
