KARACHI: The MCC Appraisement West has laid down the draft procedure pertaining to the transshipment of imported containerized cargo from gateway ports to dry ports.
This following procedure is the part of the 22nd draft of Import Manual, which Deputy Collector Usman Tariq. He was assigned this task by Additional Collector Azhar Merchant, the leader of the committee formed by the Collectorate in this regard.
Transshipment is the transfer of transshipment goods without payment of customs duties and taxes from the port of first entry to another customs port or station. The purpose of allowing transshipment facility for imported goods is to reduce congestion on gateway ports and to bring the Customs facility to the door step of the importers.
According to procedure, transshipment can only be allowed in those cases which have been distinctly manifested for transshipment and the final destination is different from the Port of entry. For transshipment of the containerized cargo to the dry port, the importer or the authorized Bonded Carrier shall file TP GD at the Port of Departure. The system shall allow the TP GD filing of the destination is different from the port of departure. In the WeBOC system this check is on the basis of importer city. Destination port and importer city shall be retrieved by the system from the BL and cannot be amended or edited by the importer or clearing agent. However, such amendments can be made by the AC/DC MIS.
The importer/clearing agent shall make a true and correct declaration by declaring all the relevant material particulars of the goods and also scan the copies of invoice and packing list with the TP. If the TP GD is filed by the importer then it will also select a Custom licensed registered Bonded Carrier for transportation of goods. The importer can amend the Bonded Carrier before the submission of vehicle number and driver details in the system by the Bonded Carrier user.
In case, the Bonded Carrier user has already declared the vehicle and driver details then the amendment of Bonded Carrier shall only be allowed by the AC/DC MIS. However, such amendment shall only be allowed before the performance of sealing activity by the gate out staff on the container.
After filling of the TP GD the importer/clearing agent shall make Cess payment in the bank. After the payment of Cess, system will allocate TP number to the GD. Upon payment of CESS, transshipment GD will be marked for Selectivity Criteria.
In case of TP GD for vehicles, the system shall mark the GD for examination and concerned examining officer shall also upload the images of the cargo in the system along with all other material particulars of the goods. After submission of the examination report, the system will mark the GD to gate out roll.
However, if during examination such goods which are banned for transshipment are found, the examiner shall stop the processing. In this case, the TP shall be cancelled by the AC/DC MIS on the request of the importer/clearing agent.
In case no discrepancy is reported then the Vehicle and driver information shall be fed into the system by the Bonded Carrier user through unique user ID.
The preventive staff at gate-out shall verify the Container and Vehicle specifications against the information available in the user ID of SPO. If no discrepancy is found, the authorized preventive officer of CCSU shall affix Customs Seal on the container and enter the Seal number in the system through his user ID.
The Customs sealing staff or the terminal operator shall enter the weight of the cargo in the system along with the digitally scanned images of weighment slip
Upon completion of the sealing of container, the Terminal Operator will perform the Gate out activity in the terminal’s system and also hand over the weighment slip to the Bonded Carrier.
The Bonded Carrier shall ensure that the goods reach at the port of destination within seven (7) days of the performance of sealing activity.
Once the container/vehicle arrives at the Clearance Collectorate then the Terminal Operator will record the Gate in event against the container. Upon safe arrival of the container/vehicle at the port of destination, the preventive staff shall inspect the seal at focal point in the presence of driver of the vehicle. In case the seal is not tempered, the authorized person shall record the Gate-in event in the system.
The concerned officer shall also enter other verifications like Weight, Seal and Container numbers at the time of de-sealing. In case of over-dimension cargo, inventory of the goods shall be jointly verified by the Customs sealing staff and the carrier. In case, the seal is found tempered or broken, examination shall be conducted in the presence of importer and the representative of the Carrier. The matter shall be reported to the concerned AC/DC of the destination Collectorate for further necessary action before the recording of the Gate-in activity in the system.
Inter port movement shall only be allowed for the import cargo destined for Off-Dock terminals in the IGM through registered Bonded Carrier.
The shipping line or shipping agents while filing the IGM shall manifest the cargo destined for off-dock terminals showing via port as off-dock terminal. The system shall automatically generate Customs release message for the terminal operator. The terminal operator upon receipt of release message shall send a ‘pre gate-out‘ message to the Customs sealing staff showing relevant information including the name of Bonded Carrier and the container no. The cargos manifested for off-dock terminals shall be visible to the AC/DC inter port movement and AC/DC MIS.
The Bonded Carrier after loading of the cargo shall report to the Customs Sealing staff at the gate-out for sealing of the container. The sealing staff after confirmation that permission for transportation to off-dock terminal has been allowed by the system shall physically verify the particulars of the Bonded Carrier and the container vis-a-vis the information received in the system. If no discrepancy is found, the sealing staff shall affix PCCSS seal on the container and feed the sealing information and the vehicle registration number in the system.
Upon successful feeding of seal information in the system, the terminal operator shall allow gate-out of the container and hand over a copy of weighment slip to the Bonded Carrier for presenting it to the Customs Staff posted at Off-dock terminal.