- Following the coronavirus spread, thousands of containers reported to be stranded around Indian ports.
- Since their cargo documentations which provide the details of the goods inside the container boxes are in the closed Chinese offices.
- Without the necessary documents, the Indian Customs Department cannot file the Bills of Entry (BoE) to clear the goods.
- The entire global supply chain has been badly impacted due to the coronavirus outbreak, which has led to large-scale disruption in shipping services.
Containers originating from China are stranded in Indian ports as their related cargo documents are in the closed offices in China, reports Safety4sea.
Bills of Entry for clearance
The offices are closed due to the Covid-19 outbreak that has so far killed 2,012 people and infected more than 75,000 people worldwide. Without the necessary documents, the Indian Customs Department cannot file the Bills of Entry (BoE) for granting clearance to the containers.
According to the rules, a BoE needs to be submitted to customs within 24 hours after containers arrive in the port. If the document is not submitted, the consignees need to pay Rs. 5,000 ($70) a day for the first three days and Rs. 10,000 ($140) per day after that.
Chennai Customs Brokers’ Association (CCBA) president S Nataraja said, “Most of the documents of the containers that landed at the Chennai port are locked inside the closed offices of shippers in China. We are unable to file BoEs with the customs to clear the goods.”
Nataraja has asked finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman to waive the penalty charges for the containers. Documents for the waiver will be submitted to the Customs Department for more than 35 containers.
Waiver for goods
Incidentally, a circular issued by the Commissioner of Customs, Chennai, on February 14 could give some reprieve for those seeking penalty waiver for goods landed from China.
To avoid recalling and reassessing the procedure for waiver of late fee, a separate option is provided for waiver of late filing charges to de-link it with assessment. This will remove the necessity for reassessment of the BoE wherever the charges are to be waived.
“The circular is an appreciable move, which will reduce the burden on the consignees due to non-payment of avoidable penal charges, especially for the Chinese goods where receiving documents itself is a challenge,” said G Raghu Shankar of International Clearing and Shipping Agency.
Global supply chain affected
Global supply chain has been badly impacted due to Coronavirus following disruption in shipping services.
Maersk, the world’s largest shipping company, on February 17 said that majority of Chinese provinces are gradually resuming work. However, labour shortage remains an issue for many factories due to local quarantine policies.
Abhik Mitra, Managing Director and CEO, Spoton Logistics, said that in fiscal 2018, India imported goods worth $73 billion from China. Closure of China-based factories, ports and warehouses will impact availability and prices of Chinese products in the short term.
However, in the long term, more vendors and OEMs could relocate at least part of their production base to India to de-risk their supply chains and benefit from a more diversified supply base, he added.
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Source: Safety4sea
