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ICD Visit Report
ICD Visit Report
Teena Sidana (54) Venkat Thogaru (55) Varun Bajla (56) Vinay Bohra (57) Vipul Vikram Singh (58) Yash Saxena (59)
The Air cargo terminal is situated on the IGI Airport and is divided into two major sections namely the Export Warehouse and the Import Warehouse. We visited the export ware house first. A brief about both of them is as follows:
i.
Export warehouse
At the entrance are the Truck Docks where the trucks filled with cargo to be exported are brought by the Clearing Agents. The area where they are stored till approved is called the Examination Area. The cargo needs to be approved by the Customs Agents before it passes through. The freight to be paid by the exporting party is decided on the basis of the weight of the containers and the materials in it. Most of the airlines (through which the cargo is to be sent) have their offices located on the first floor of the warehouse. They should be informed and booked in advance for the sending of the cargo. After the cargo is received at the entrance of the warehouse, it is sent to the Customs for approval. They have to examine a minimum 10% of the cargo and can even call back the cargo form the bonded area to the examination area, in case they are suspicious. It should adhere to the necessary packaging and labelling compliances. Packaging standards are different in case of dangerous goods such as explosives, chemicals, oxidisers, corrosives, etc. It is necessary since certain items can be carried only in cargo aircraft and not otherwise. However, there are no separate charges that are levied for carrying such goods; just an indication of their nature. These are decided on the basis of the IATA norms and mentioned on the entrance. Only after it is approved, it is send forward. From here, first it is passed
ii.
Import Warehouse
Each of the shipment arriving at the import warehouse is given a Cargo manifest and an Airway Bill (AWB). After giving them these documents the shipment is inspected by the customs officers here. However, no X-ray check is done for the import cargo as against the export cargo. After the customs approve the cargo, they issue an Out of Charge slip for the same. After checking the cargo, a Segregation sheet is prepared where we get a list of perishable/non perishable, damaged/not damaged cargo. It is then cross checked with the manifest. A special officer known as the Ship Duty Officer is responsible for feeding all the data about the cargo according to the manifest in the system. The airlines, on the other hand, would simultaneously issue the delivery order to the consignee and inform him/her that the cargo has arrived. The freight charges can either be prepaid or paid later. The unloading of the cargo has been outsourced to JACK Cargo. The performance parameters for the same are: Time taken to unload Up to 4 hours 4-8 hours 8-12 hours Weight Up to 10 tonnes 10-20 tonnes >20 tonnes
Inland Container Depot A common user facility with public authority status equipped with fixed installations and offering services for handling and temporary storage of import/export laden and empty containers carried under customs control and with Customs and other agencies competent to clear goods for home use, warehousing, temporary admissions, re-export, temporary storage for onward transit and outright export. Transhipment of cargo can also take place from such stations
The operations of the ICDs revolve around the following centres of activity:i. Rail Siding (in case of a rail based terminal) The place where container trains are received, dispatched and handled in a terminal. Similarly, the containers are loaded on and unloaded from rail wagons at the siding through overhead cranes and / or other lifting equipments. ii. Container Yard Container yard occupies the largest area in the ICD. It is stacking area were the export containers are aggregated prior to dispatch to port; import containers are stored till Customs clearance and where empties await onward movement. Likewise, some stacking areas are earmarked for keeping special containers such as refrigerated, hazardous, overweight/over-length, etc. iii. Warehouse A covered space/shed where export cargo is received and import cargo stored/delivered; containers are stuffed/stripped or reworked; LCL exports are consolidated and import LCLs are unpacked; and cargo is physically examined by Customs. Export and import consignments are generally handled either at separate areas in a warehouse or in different nominated warehouses/sheds.
iv.
Gate Complex
Concentration points for long distance cargoes and its unitisation. Service as a transit facility. Customs clearance facility available near the centres of production and consumption Reduced level of demurrage and pilferage. No Customs required at gateway ports. Issuance of through bill of lading by shipping lines, hereby resuming full liability of shipments. Reduced overall level of empty container movement. Competitive transport cost. Reduced inventory cost. Increased trade flows.
ICD Tughlakabad was visited as a part of the Academic inland port visit on 7th August, 2009.
The ICD Tughlakabad is the largest dry port in South Asia and the leading centre for importers and exporters of the Northern Region. This ICD began functioning at Tughlakabad in 1993, prior to which it was located at Pragati Maidan. Container Corporation of India Ltd (CONCOR), which is the Public Sector Undertaking, is responsible for this ICD. CONCOR are also the carriers, through rail, of import and export containers between ICD Tughlakabad and the Gateway Ports of Mumbai, Nhava Sheva and Chennai. This ICD is the focal Port for the ICDs at PPG, Faridabad and Garhi Harsaru and the movement of the containers between the ICDs to and fro takes place by road. The Customs area houses two covered Sheds, one for import and the other for exports. The main
Four full length rail lines are available in the Customs area which brings the containers by train from Gateway ports such as Mumbai, Nhava Sheva, Chennai, besides bringing the containers by road from other ports such as Haldia, Calcutta and Kandla, etc. The equipment and facilities are the latest in technology, incognito is the Rail Linkage to the gateway ports, and with the Delhi-Mumbai route forming a part of the Golden Quadrilateral of Indian Railways, the importance of this establishment is even more. In terms of road transport the nearness with the NH2 and having approach to major roads in Delhi connecting all National Highways. Major Import Items a. b. c. d. e. machinery, electronic goods, plastic, chemicals, motor vehicles and parts metal and metal scrap is banned due to environmental issues On export side major items being exported through ICD are leather garments and leather products, readymade garments, machinery, agricultural products especially rice.
ICD, TKD (ICD, Tughlakabad) has the following infrastructure facilities for operations, located inside the custom bonded area
4 full train-length rail lines 6,000 square meters covered warehouse space for imports which is sufficient to accommodate cargo of 160 TEUs l10, 000 square meters covered warehouse space for export cargo which is sufficient to accommodate a cargo of 240 TEUs 1,500 square meters of especially reserved space for LCL consolidation. Open space for stacking of 5,000 loaded containers Open space for stacking 6,000 empty containers Empty parks in Power Cabin (PRC), Ballabgarh (BVH), NMS Dadri Six hectares parking area to accommodate 400 trailers Fully computerized import and export documentation Computerized weighbridge facility Container repair facilities One rail mounted gantry crane Three Rubber Tyred Gantry Cranes each with a capacity of 40 tonnes Eight loaded reach stackers (40 tonnes) Six empty reach stackers (16 tonnes)
Establishment of Customer Service Cell to attend to queries Provision of enquiry terminal in Export-Import Cell for direct access to information by Customers. Display of train running chart daily on notice board. Provision of the enquiry module of the main computer system to major shipping lines and other users Import removals round-the-clock Updating train running and summaries of the trains running between New Delhi and Mumbai on the Internet at the Concor India website Introduction of separate trains for NSICT and JNPCT Introduction of high-speed wagons running at 100 kmph Augmentation of reefer services and their dispatch by high speed trains Guaranteed overnight export and import shifting 24 hrs. acceptance of export cargo and containers Ensuring the placement of import examination containers at ground level only. Export warehouse operations round-the-clock Receipt and delivery of empty containers round-the-clock Separation of export stacks for JNPCT, NSICT, Mumbai Port and other terminals. Facility for dispatch of LCL reworking containers by rail to JNPT and onward by road to CFSs in Dronagiri Node. Special discounted slab rates for 20 containers with gross weight in the range of 24 -30 MTs. Road-cum-rail movement of export cargo to Bangladesh/ Nepal border. Handling and transportation of over dimensional cargo/ containers by rail/road. Provision of PDA (Pre-Deposit Account) to the customers to facilitate financial Provision of cheque facility to distinguished customers Waiver and Refund of Wharfage Charges on case to case basis transactions
Activities
ICD, TKD provides following services to exporters, importers and shipping lines:
Customs clearance and cargo inspection within the Custom bonded area Import/Export LCL/FCL cargo handling Receipts and dispatch of container trains between ICD, TKD and other ICDs as well as gateway ports Receipts and dispatch of containers by road from and to other ICDs, CFSs and customers premises Loading and unloading of containers to and from trains Stuffing and de-stuffing of containers in the warehouses Storage of empty containers offered by shipping lines and handling of loaded and empty reefer containers.
CONCOR is using various online applications like Export/Import Terminal Management System (ETMS), Domestic Terminal Management System (DTMS), Oracle Financials-ERP, HR-Payroll system
Based on Centralized architecture deployed through Citrix environment and running over VSAT based hybrid network.
RDTs are being used in the ICD/TKD yard and ICD/Dadri for online container tracking and entry of unloading / loading of containers on to wagons.
After the visit, some research led to the question of transportation security at ICDs. ICDs are a common user facility for handling/temporary storage of import/export laden and empty shipping containers. Transhipment of cargo can also take place from such terminals and the Customs clear goods at the ICD. No Customs clearance is required at gateway ports thus it increases trade flows and also decongests seaports. The ICD Tughlakabad is the largest dry port in South Asia and the leading centre for box traffic transportation. Among the major items transported through this dry port are machinery, electronic goods, metal and metal scrap. It is the latter that has caught the attention of security forces. In October 2004, bomb disposal squads of the Indian Army and the National Security Guards diffused live rocket shells from the scrap consignment that arrived at the Bhushan Steel Company from Iran. This US $ 25,000 consignment loaded in shipping containers left Bander Abbas in Iran on board M V Kuo Long. The containers were bound for the Inland Container Depot (ICD), Tughlakabad, via Mundra port in Gujarat. The security agencies recovered more than fifty shells/bombs in the consignment. Unfortunately, the procedures followed for inspection of containers at the ICD Tughlakabad were lax. At the ICD, the container is unsealed and examined in the presence of the customs examination staff. During examination, a certain percentage of the packages are opened and this percentage is determined by the risk factors that are evaluated by the Custom department on the basis of risk assessment techniques. The importer is required to make the necessary arrangements for the speedy de-stuffing of the cargo in conformance with the examination orders given by the Appraising Groups. As per the manning guidelines of the Central Board of Excise & Customs, the ICDs would normally operate with a staff of 13 officers 1 Assistant/Deputy Commissioner, 2 Appraisers, 2 Inspectors, 2 UDCs, 2 LDCs, 4 Sepoys) and the ICDs engaged in only exports have 7officers (1 Assistant/Deputy Commissioner, 1 Appraiser, 1 Inspector, 1 UDC, 1 LDC, 2 Sepoys) The above clearly illustrates that the ICD are ill equipped to undertake a thorough inspection of the containers. This is one of the reasons why explosive materials and live ammunition escaped the eyes of the ICD Tughlakabad officials.