22/02/2019
India getting ready for Sea Cargo Manifest & Transshipment Regulations
NEW DELHI: After a pushback from ocean carrier/port user groups over inadequate timelines and various compliance problems Indian authorities and trade stakeholders are progressing with a 2018 regulatory reform that was held in abeyance for a tighter customs program involving cargo manifest rules. Completion of the manifest submissions electronically and well before the vessel’s arrival or departure from an Indian Port by ocean carriers and other interested groups are the requirements of the new rules — quite like the procedures required under the 24-hour advance manifest rule for US cargo and recent regulatory changes in China. After two missed deadlines of 1st August and 1st November, the new policy titled the ‘Sea Cargo Manifest and Transshipment [SCMT] Regulations 2018,’ will come into force on 1st March. “This regulation supersedes the earlier regulations of Import Manifest [Vessels] Regulations, 1971, Export Manifest [Vessels] Regulation, 1976 and Transportation of Goods [Through Foreign Territory] Regulations of 1965,” a Government notice stated. “The new regulation stipulates changes in time lines & requirements for advance notice by shipping lines [vessels] arriving in India and exports through shipping lines [vessels] out of India.” Under the SCMT framework, import general manifests (IGMs) need to be filed prior to the vessel sailing out from the last foreign port of call — meaning before entering Indian shores, whereas export general manifests (EGMs) are to be submitted prior to the vessel sailing from the Indian port of loading. “The submission of arrival and departure manifest[s] shall have to be complied with by the ASC [authorized sea carrier]/ASA [authorized sea agent] before departure from the last port/customs station of call to every Indian customs station and departure then on respectively,” the notice said.
Similar rules for Transshipment cargo
The program has similar rules for transshipment cargo when transported between a port and an inland container depot (ICD) or a container freight station (CFS) — requiring cargo interests to file manifests prior to the departure/arrival of a train or a truck hauling that freight.As of now, IGMs are generally filed 48 hours before vessel arrival for long-haul voyages and roughly 10 hours prior to vessel arrival for short-haul voyages — such as feeder and coastal operations. For EGMs, carriers had three days for online filings and seven days for manual submissions from the vessel sailing time until now, according to industry sources. To make adherence easy by providing more insights nito the new digital programme, public information sessions are being held by Customs Authorities at various port locations where any of their concerns will be addressed. On January 18th in a meeting at Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) officials explained that no major changes will be made to those rules. They seemed amenable to some of the suggestions made by carrier-trade representatives, which included an extended cut-off time for manifest data amendments. “One thing Customs is particularly firm about is that they will be implementing the notification as planned and no more extension[s] will be allowed,” an industry source said.India’s transport industry is in the throes of a drastic technological transformation and Ease-of-Doing-Business reforms. This new customs program – designed to keep pace with a rapidly changing global freight environment – complements a revamped, nationwide port community system that went live on December 11, 2018.
