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OFFICE
OF THE COMMISSIONER OF CUSTOMS (GENERAL), MUMBAI ZONE I, |
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OFFICE OF THE CHIEF COMMISSIONER OF CUSTOMS, NEW CUSTOM HOUSE,
MUMBAI ZONE-I F.No. S/I-22(01)/2011 Unit-II Date: 21 .06.2011 MINUTES
OF THE OPEN HOUSE MEETING OF THE CHIEF COMMISSIONERS OF CUSTOMS ZONE I, II
& III WITH THE REPRESENTATIVES OF THE TRADE AND INDUSTRY ASSOCIATIONS AND
INDIVIDUALS HELD ON 25.05.2011 AT 04:00 P.M. IN THE CONFERENCE HALL, 2ND
FLOOR, NEW CUSTOM HOUSE, MUMBAI ZONE I. The Open House Meeting for the
month of May, 2011 was held on
25.05.2011 under the Chairmanship of Shri K.R. Bhargava, Chief Commissioner of Customs, Zone-II, Smt. Shobha L. Chary, Chief Commissioner of Customs Zone I and
Shri Vineet Kumar, Chief
Commissioner of Customs, Zone III in the Conference Hall, 2nd
Floor, NCH, Mumbai Zone I. 2. From
the department side, the following attended.
i.
Shri C. S. Prasad, Commissioner
Exports, JNCH
ii.
Shri Ataur
Rahman, Additional Commissioner, CCO, Zone II
iii.
Shri Nasim
Arshi, Additional Commissioner, CCO, Zone III
iv.
Shri Prashant
Kumar, Jt. Commissioner of Customs, CCO, Zone I.
v.
Shri Pramod
Kumar. Deputy Commissioner of Customs, CCO, Zone I 3. The
following attended the meeting from the trade side.
4. Chief
Commissioners welcomed the members present and initiated discussion on Action
Taken on Minutes of meeting held on 29.12.2010 and new points subsequently. 4(1): Format
of Manual Bill of Entry: [Please refer to Para 4(1) of the Minutes] This open point was sponsored by BCHHA. It was
informed to the members that Zone I has already issued Public Notice No. 98
of 2010 dated 22.12.2010 vide F.No. S/26-238/07 A
(G) and Zone II has issued Public Notice No. 119 of
2010 dated 24.11.2010. Regarding zone III, the Chief Commissioner of Customs,
Mumbai Zone III informed that the Commissioner of Customs (Imports) Zone III
has issued Public Notice No.46/2010 dated 29.12.2011 [Point is closed] 4(2): Updating of Export HS Code Master from 13th edition
to 14th edition: [Please refer to Para 4(2) of Minutes] : This point was sponsored by M/s. IDMA. Chief
Commissioner Mumbai – Zone I informed that Commissioner (EP), NCH, Zone – I
has issued PN/SO Nos 69/2010 & 29/2010 both
dated 27.09.2010 on the subject matter respectively and a copy of the same
was given to the members. There is no such problem in Zone III and
Commissioner (Export); JNCH is under process of issuing suitable PN & SO
in the matter. Chief Commissioner of Customs Zone II
informed that Commissioner (Exports), JNCH has called members of I.D.M.A. for
discussion to clarify certain doubts for suitable action regarding Public
Notice/ Standing Order. Commissioner of Customs (EP), Zone-II has examined the matter and it has been decided to issue a certificate
of export in such cases till such time the Master Directory of Export Tariff
Heading is updated by DG (System).
Exporters requiring such certificate may approach Asstt.
Commissioner of Customs (Exports), i/c. CFS , JNCH, from where LEO was given for the same. A public notice no. 14/2011 dated
17.02.2011 has been issued in this regard. (Point is closed) 4(3): Port user’s guidance and feedback form:
[Please refer to Para 4(3) of Minutes] This point was
sponsored by M/s. Global Import & Export Bureau. Public Notice No. 99 of
2010 dated 05.10.2010 has already been issued by Zone II. Chief Commissioner
of Customs, Mumbai Zone I informed that Commissioner (Imports), Mumbai
–Zone-I has issued Public Notice No. 100/2010 dated 09.12.2010 vide F.No. S/26-58/2010 A(G) and
Chief Commissioner of Customs, Mumbai Zone III has approved the feedback form
and has issued directions to Commissioners to post the same on
Commissionerate website. The Feedback form has been posted in the Zonal
Commissionerates Website. (Point is closed) 4(4) {4(5)}:
Operations like delivery of cartons and deposition of export cargo in
the MIAL Shed and Gate may be on 24 x 7 hour basis:[Please refer to Para 4(5)
of minutes] : This point was sponsored by BCHAA. Chief
Commissioner, Mumbai- Zone III informed and explained the position
with respect to deliveries at ACC. The members were told that request for
increasing delivery time from 14 hours to 21 hours is acceptable by opening
one additional gate and MIAL is in the process of doing it. JC, P(G) , Mumbai I vide Office Order No. 20/ 2010 dated
25.11.2010 issued vide F.No. S/43-603/2010 P(PSO)
has already posted the said 4
P.O.s for operating the gate and it
has been reported that all the POs have joined their duties and also Office
Order No. dated 09.02.2011issued vide F.No.GRD-34/010 (P) has posted the said
4 Sepoys and it has been reported that all the sepoys have joined their duties. Chief Commissioner Zone
I also informed the trade that plans are being formulated for examination of
Factory Stuffed Containers 24 x 7 in all the three Zones. (Point is closed) 4(5) {4(6)} Choice
of CFS: [Please refer to Para 4(6) of the minutes]: This point was sponsored by M/s. Global
Export & Import Bureau vide e-mail dated 22.09.2010. Chief Commissioner, Zone II
informed that issue is pending with CBEC; no instructions in regard from CBEC
have been received till date. Members were informed that Chennai High Court
has passed a favourable judgment on this subject.
On receipt of instructions from CBEC, Public Notice will be issued. Chief Commissioner, Zone II
was informed by the Trade that certain CFS’s are laying down conditions
arbitrarily adding to the woes of the trade. Chief Commissioner, Zone II
informed the trade that they should not generalise
but give specific cases so that the
A.C’s in charge of the respective
CFS’s could take initiative to get the matter resolved. (Action: By the Trade, Zone –
II) (Point is open.) 4(6) {4(16)} Outward
mails/communication from the Customs Officials [Please refer Minutes Para
6(11)] – This point was sponsored by M/s. Global Import
and Export Bureau. Chief Commissioners, informed members that Instruction No.
4/2010 dated 22.12.2010 has been issued by Zone II. Further Zone I & III
also have given direction to this effect for implementation. Point raised
will be communicated to all the concerned for giving the requested available
information. Commissioner (General), Zone-I has issued Standing Order No.
5/2011 dated 25.02.2011 on the issue.
Chief Commissioner, Zone III informed the trade that instructions have
been issued in the zone. (Point
is closed) 4(7) {4(17)} Online
transmission of Licences [Please refer Minutes Para
6(13)] – This
point was sponsored by M/s. BCHHA. Members requested discontinuation of the
practice followed in Air Cargo Complex about bulletin verification. It was
stated that such practice is not followed anywhere other than ACC. Zone III has reported that in
respect of on line licences transmitted such as
DEPB, DEEC, EPCG, etc. bulletin verification of licenses has been dispensed
with. However in respect of Licences that are
manual in nature such as VKUY, FMS,
FPS, SFIS, etc, bulletin verification is being
insisted upon till such time as they will be transmitted on line. Presently
bulletin verification is being done at New Custom House. Air Cargo Complex (Export) proposes to
obtain copies of bulletin available at NCH, Mumbai and do the verification at
ACC itself, so that the Importers/Exporters need not visit NCH Mumbai. Zone II caries out bulletin
verification at JNCH itself. (Action: ADC, CCO Zone III) (Point is open) 4(8) {4(19)}
Huge pendency at J. N. Customs and Air Cargo Complex [Please refer to
Minutes Para 6(15)]- This point was sponsored by M/s. BCHAA. It was
stated that backlog is due to shortage of staff. Chief Commissioner of
Customs, Mumbai Zone I informed that the matter of deployment of officers in
both the Zones III & II is being looked into and the issue will be sorted
out within the constraints of available strength of the cadres. Commissioner
(General) has issued Estt. Office Order 15/2011
dated 18.01.2011 regarding transfer and postings of Appraisers. The said order inter-alia posted 11 &
12 Appraisers to Zone-II & III rexpectively against
outgoing figures of 10 each. The trade was of the opinion
that the migration from 1.0v to 1.5v has led to lot of problems to their clan
as they have to bear huge demurrage & detention charges. The Chief
Commissioners informed that matter has already been taken up with the
concerned authorities. (Point is closed) 4(9) {4(20)}
Air consignments to be cleared from Mulund-CFS
[Please refer to
Minutes Para 6(17)]- This point was
sponsored by M/s. BCHAA. In the last meeting dated 24.11.2010 & 29.12.2010
Chief Commissioner of Customs, Mumbai, Zone I had informed that suggestion
from the member for calling for a meeting of all concerned agencies is
acceptable and the same may be taken up by Zone III. Chief Commissioner of Customs,
Mumbai Zone III informed that a meeting was held on 08.12.2010 to resolve the
issues faced by CONCOR with respect of Cargo movement from ACC, Sahar to ICD,
Mulund and vice-versa. The meeting was attended by
representatives of MIAL, A.I., CONCOR, Airlines, BCHAA, ACAAI & others.
Chief Commissioner of Customs,
Mumbai Zone III informed the Trade that M/s.CONCOR
had been requested to propose the area which could be demarked for the
proposed AFS but M/s. CONCOR has not reverted back with their suggestions. This feedback is essential as the
jurisdiction of the said area lies with Commissioner (G) i.e. Zone I and with
the proposed formation of AFS the jurisdiction would be transferred to Zone
III. It is imminent that the specified
area be de-notified from Zone I and re-notified under Zone III. Trade was of the opinion that
the process of de-notification & re-notification of the said area would
take considerable time and also expressed their doubt regarding the necessity
for the same as the whole area is Customs area. They also expressed their
fear that the said facility would not be put in place in the near future and forcasted huge damage to their cargo due to the on-coming
monsoon. The members were
informed about the proposal that BE/SB will be assessed at ACC and examination
of selected goods will be held at ICD, Mulund by
the officers posted by Commissioner ACC.
[Action: ADC, CCO - III to
provide status report] (Point is open.) 4(10) {4(21) Reports delayed from Textile
Committee [Please refer to Minutes Para 6(18)]- This point was sponsored by M/s. BCHAA. In the
last meeting dated 24.11.2010, Chief Commissioner of Customs Mumbai, Zone II
had informed the members that Joint Meeting of Textile officers, other
agencies, CHA’s & other stake holders in clearance work will be called
and efforts will be made to settle the matter. Chief Commissioner of Customs, Mumbai Zone
II informed that a joint meeting of representatives of Mills Owners
Association of Mumbai, Textiles Committee, BTRA, SASMIRA, and DYCC/JNCH &
BCHAA was held on 19.01.2011 and comments have been called from the
Laboratories on suggestions given by the members. Comments are still awaited
and on receipt of the comments suitable guidelines/Public Notice will be
issued. [Action: Commissioner (Imp),
JNCH – II] (Point is open.) 4(11) Delay in Assessment if Bills of Entry at
JNCH (New Point) This point was sponsored by M/s.
BCHAA and it was mentioned that there is 8 to 9 days delay in assessment of
bills of entries in Group 2 to Group-2K and number of Queries in Group 2 to
2K has also climbed in addition to the delay. The trade is paying huge
penalty in form of demmurage and container
detention charges. Chief Commissioner, Zone II
informed the trade that the delay to a certain extent is caused due to the
migration from ICES 1.0v to ICES 1.5v
on 05.04.2011 and owing to transitional problems the system would take some
time for stabilization and processing time for one document increased in new
version. It was informed that additional officers have been posted to Gr. 2
to 2K to bring the situation under control. The field staff is getting
acquainted with the new version and it is envisaged that the delay would be
nullified in a short time. The trade was of the
opinion that the field formations are putting up unwarranted queries with AC
leading to increase of time for processing documents the Chief Commissioners
assured them to they would look into the matter. [Action:
Commissioner (Imp), JNCH – II] 4(12) Incident of Fire at Maersk
CFS (New Point) The members of the open house
also mentioned about the incident of fire to the hazardous cargo in Maersk CFS (New), which has exposed the fragility of the
system for storage of hazardous cargo in the CFSs. To prevent such incidents in future, a full
proof system should be put in place. The Chief Commissioner, Zone II assured
the members that suitable precaution will be taken. [Action: Commissioner
(Export), JNCH] 4(13) Call for P.H. without specifying any
reason (New
Point) Agenda point sponsored
by Shri Rajiv Gupta vide e-mail dated
23.03.2011.Joint Commissioner (Import) vide a letter F.No. S/26-78/2011 A (G) dated 29.03.2011 has stated that
personal hearing is granted only after a proper show casue
notice is issued and ample opportunity is given to the noticee
to reply the same, unless issuance of SCN is waived by the party. Chief Commissioner,
Zone III has requested that specific instances may be given in orderto take pointed steps to avoid such cases. He
assured the trade that an Office Order has been issued by ACC Commissionerate
for incorporating specific details P.H. memo. (Point is closed) 4(14)
Huge delay in obtaining final printout of B/Es of OOC (New Point) The point pertains to Mumbai Zone-III, which has reported that
on 15th April , 2011 Directorate Gen. of Systems implemented the Software
Patch to allow printing of Bs/E as
well as S/Bs by CMC Service Centre however due to technical issues certain
Bs/E are found not available for printing with Service Centre, SSO id. It is also seen that in a large number of
cases print files are not getting generated in the system and for generating
such files AC (Import Shed) has to order re-print in the system. This may
have resulted in some backlog. The matter has already been taken with the DG
(SYS) and they have deputed a team of
consisting of Engineers from TCS, ORACLE & PWC to visit Mumbai ACC to
study the problem and suggest .It is expected that the problem will be
resolved shortly. [Action:
Additional Commissioner, CCO , Zone– III] 4(15) Lack
of infrastructure in MIAL which has lead to delay in Import and Export
Cargo. (New Point) This point has been sponsored
by BCHAA and it pertains to Mumbai Zone-III. They mentioned that since last
month MIAL has taken over handling of Singapore Airlines thus causing
tremendous hardship to trade.
Therefore it was suggested that top level managements of MIAL should
be involved in resolving issues of trade. Zone III reported that
infrastructure issues are being taken up with MIAL on a regular basis both
within and outside TFC meetings. It is a fact that MIAL has not added any
storage space in Import or Export Warehouses since Mumbai Airport was taken
over by them, whereas volume of Import & Export had gone up considerably during
the same period. As regard MIAL taking over handling of Singapore Airlines it
is a commercial decision taken between MIAL and Singapore Airlines. Proposed new perishable Terminal for Export
and Air Freight Station in CFS Mulund for both
Import & Export are expected to reduce congestion in existing
warehouses. [Action:
Additional Commissioner, CCO, Zone– III] 5. All
the member present bid a hearty farewell to Shri K.R.Bhargava on the eve of his superannuation. The
members expressed deep gratitude and recollected the various trade
facilitation measures taken by Shri K.R.Bhargava. 6. The
Meeting ended with the vote of thanks to the Chair. 7. This
issues with the approval of the Chief Commissioner of Customs, Zone I, II and
III. Sd/-21.06.2011 (BASWARAJ NALEGAVE) ADDITIONAL COMMISSIONER OF
CUSTOMS Baswaraj1.Nalegave@icegate.gov.in Ph 022-22696916. Fax 022-22610027. Copy to: 1. The Chief
Commissioner of Customs, Mumbai Zone I 2. The Chief
Commissioner of Customs, Mumbai Zone II 3. The Chief
Commissioner of Customs, Mumbai Zone III 4. All
Commissioners of Customs, Mumbai Zone I,II & III 5. The
Addl./Joint Commissioners (EDI), NCH/JNCH/ACC (for immediate uploading of the
Minutes on the websites) 6. Copy for
information and wide circulation to: All Associations with a request to
inform their members to view the minutes of the meeting on the website www.mumbaicustoms.gov.in www.jawaharcustoms.gov.in 7. Copy to all
the members of the trade present in the meeting through e-mail. 8. Office Copy. Sd/-21.06.2011 (BASWARAJ NALEGAVE) ADDITIONAL COMMISSIONER OF
CUSTOMS Baswaraj1.Nalegave@icegate.gov.in Ph 022-22696916. Fax 022-22610027. |