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OFFICE OF THE ADDITIONAL COMMISSIONER OF CUSTOMS COCHIN INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, NEDUMBASSERY, COCHIN

MINUTES OF THE AIR PORT AND AIR CARGO FACILITATION COMMITTEE MEETING HELD ON 18TH DECEMBER 2012 AT 11.00 AM AT THE CONFERENCE HALL IN COCHIN INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT

The Airport and Air Cargo Facilitation Committee Meeting was held at 11 AM on 18.12.2012. The following members attended the meeting :-

S/Shri./Smt. 1 Dr. K.N. Raghavan Commissioner of Customs 2. C.Madhavan Deputy Commissioner of Customs. 3. Dr. S. Anil Kumar Asst. Commissioner of Customs 4. Jagadish Chander AC, CISF 5. Santhosh Kumar. R Inspector, CISF 6. Dinesh Kumar AGM, CIAL 7. George Koshy Head Cargo, CIAL 8. P. Gowrishankar CIAL 9. Bilu Varghese, CIAL 10.Mattachan CIAL 11. Sreejith P Deputy Manager, CIAL 12. Sajith D Deputy Manager, CIAL 13. Joseph George AVT, CCHAA Representative 14. Sasi Kumar Air 15. Ranju C.S Oman Air 16. Anoopkumar Emirates 17. Deepak Mathew Emirates 18. Harikumar Madhavan Gulf Air 19. Biju Chandoz Qatar Airways 20. Siny M.V Qatar Airways 21. Vipin Mathew Saudi Airlines 22. Rajesh Thomas Kuwait Airways 23. Dilip Menon Ethihad Cargo 24. Nithin G Air Arabia 25. Sainul Abid T.M Sri Lankan Airlines 26. Satheese A ttoor SBT 27. Dushyant Kumar BWFS

The meeting was chaired by Dr. K.N. Raghavan, Commissioner of Customs, Cochin. He welcomed all the officials from various agencies like CISF, IB, Immigration, Representatives from CIAL, the Airlines and Custom House Clearing Agents Association.

The Minutes of the last meeting held on 16.10.2012 which was circulated was passed.

The Commissioner informed the gathering that as suggested by the members during the last Facilitation Committee Meeting to hold meeting once in two months to sort out any intermediate problems. Accordingly, a meeting was arranged for the day, but since no point was received for discussion, it was hoped that there are no problems being faced by the members.

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On perusal of the last minutes, the Chairman stated that one officer from M/s National Information Centre (NIC) is being posted from 01/01/2013 for speedy confirmation of all documents and to solve the technical problems being faced in the EDI System at the Air Cargo Complex. The Chairman further stated that on enquiry with the M/s. BSNL Authorities, it was confirmed that there is no problem with the existing connectivity.

The Chairman enquired about the present working of the new cut off time. Shri. George Koshy, Cargo Head, CIAL informed that the Airlines/Agents should submit the relevant documents well before the cut off time. He further suggested that all Airlines/Agents should improve their efficiency in this regard.

Shri. Harikumar Madhavan of Gulf Air stated that most of the perishable cargo are procured on the said day and are packed so as to be fresh at the destination place. He also stated that the said perishable cargo are originated from outside the District and if it is brought well before time it will incur additional expenditure by way of storage. Hence, the prescribed cut off time could not be adhered to on certain occasions.

The Chairman and the Airport Director assured that they will look into this matter with regard to cutoff time prescribed for the perishable goods in a positive way.

With regard to the details such as AWB, No. of pieces etc. at the time of EDI Check, the Chairman enquired whether it is mandatory on the part of CIAL to insist for these particulars. Shri. George Koshy, Cargo Head, CIAL stated that the present software installed at the Cargo Complex by CIAL compels for input of these details. The Cargo Head requested all the Airlines/Agents to furnish all the details for speedy clearance of the goods.

In respect to the RMS facility for Imports the Chairman stated the matter has been taken up with the Additional Director General of Systems & Data Management and implementation of the same would take some more time.

As suggested by the Head of the Cargo Section of the CIAL for exploring the possibility of an IT linkage connecting CIAL and Walayar Post for speedy clearance of non-bonded Transshipment Cargo, the Chairman stated that software is being developed and hopefully it would be implemented very shortly.

At the last meeting the President of the Cochin Custom House Agents Association assured that they will furnish a list of all the CHA’s and their employees’ alongwith photographs and their signature. But unfortunately, no list has been received by the Customs Department. The representative of the Custom House Agents Association present at the meeting, Shri Joseph George, of M/s. A.V. Thomas & Co. Ltd., (Manager – Air Cargo ) stated that the Association is in the process of preparing the list and it would be submitted to the Customs Department at the earliest.

The Head of the Cargo Section of the CIAL stated that there are three types of passes issued by the Customs Department to the Custom House Agents and requested the Chairman to intimate, whom the CIAL authorities should permit to take delivery of the Import Cargo including Courier goods. The Chairman categorically stated that only Custom House Agents holding Green Card Passes are authorized to take delivery of the Import goods.

Shri. George Koshy, Cargo Head, CIAL stated that inspite of several reminders the Airlines authorities are still issuing two or more Airway Bills for a consignment, which makes it extremely difficult for the CIAL to account for in case of shut out that too especially if it is a Narrow Body Aircraft. The Chairman requested all Airlines authorities to adhere to the instructions so as to avoid shut out.

Shri. George Koshy, Cargo Head, CIAL stated that huge Courier packages is pending clearance and requested the Chairman to depute two more officers at the Air Cargo Complex to attend to the Courier packages for faster clearance. The Chairman stated that due to shortage of staff at the Custom House, it is very difficult to post officers 3 at this juncture. However, he assured that he will seriously look into this matter and depute additional officers according to the situation.

The Chairman was informed by the trade that there are instances of delay in clearance of Import consignments through Air Cargo Complex. The Chairman stated that the Customs Department would like to clear the goods on the same day, but due to late filing of Bills of Entry and other documents it is being delayed. The Chairman called upon all Importers / Agents to submit all relevant documents to avoid delay and demurrage.

Shri Sainul Abid of Sri Lankan Airlines stated that at present they have a few non-scheduled cargo flights to Cochin transporting Courier baggage, which they proposed to convert into scheduled flights (i.e. two flights per week). The Chairman welcomed the suggestion and stated that the Customs Department will extend all possible help in this regard provided the CIAL makes available enough space for clearance.

With regard to round the clock clearance of Import and Export consignments, the Chairman stated that Customs Ports / Air Cargo Complex, have been designated for 24 x 7 functioning and the issue as to whether such facility is to be extended to other ports/ Airports is under consideration of Ministry of Finance.

The Chairman stated that the next meeting could be held in the month of March/ April 2013.

The meeting ended with thanks from the Chair.

S/d (C. MADHAVAN) DEPUTY COMMISSIONER OF CUSTOMS AIR CARGO COMPLEX AND AIRPORT (ADMINISTRATION)

F.No.S.25/131/2010 ACC. Cus. Dated: 18.02.2013

Issued to:

1. Airport Director, CIAL. 2. Commandant, CISF, Cochin International Airport. 3. Superintendent of Police, Immigration, Cochin International Airport. 4. Chief Security Officer, Cochin International Airport. 5. Head, Cargo, CIAL. 6. Custom House Agents Association, ,. 7. Air Cargo Agents Association of India- Kerala Regional Committee. 8. All Courier Operators. 9. Executive Head/Manager (Cargo), Air India, Cochin International Airport. 10. Airport Manager/Manager (Cargo), Indian Airlines, Cochin International Airport. 11. Airport Manager/Manager (Cargo), Jet Airways, Cochin International Airport. 12. Airport Manager/Manager (Cargo), Oman Air, Cochin International Airport. 13. Airport Manager/Manager (Cargo), Silk Air, Cochin International Airport. 14. Airport Manager/Manager (Cargo), Kuwait Airways, Cochin International Airport. 15. Airport Manager/Manager (Cargo), Emirates, Cochin International Airport. 16. Airport Manager/Manager (Cargo), Qatar Airways, Cochin International Airport. 17. Airport Manager/Manager (Cargo), Saudi Arabian Airlines, Cochin International Airport. 18. Airport Manager/Manager (Cargo), Gulf Air, Cochin International Airport. 19. Airport Manager/Manager (Cargo), Air Arabia, Cochin International Airport. 20. Airport Manager/Manager (Cargo), Ethihad Airways, Cochin International Airport. 4

21. Airport Manager/Manager (Cargo), Bahrain Air, Cochin International Airport. 22. Airport Manager/Manager (Cargo), Air Asia, Cochin International Airport. 23. Airport Manager/Manager (Cargo), SriLankan Airlines, Cochin International Airport. 24. Airport Manager/Manager (Cargo), Kingfisher Airlines, Cochin International Airport. 25. Airport Manager/Manager (Cargo), SriLankan Airlines, Cochin International Airport. 26. General Manager, BWFS, Cochin International Airport. 27. General Manager, Airawat Aviation, Cochin International Airport. 28. All Freight Forwarders 29. All Importers/Exporters (through CHAs) 30. All Superintendents/Appraisers, ACC 31. The Manager, SBT, Cochin International Airport. 32. The Manager, Federal Bank, Cochin International Airport. 33. The Manager, Thomas Cook, Cochin International Airport. 34. Superintendent (Admn), Airport. 35. Notice Board.

Copy to:

1. Chief Commissioner of Customs, Central Excise & Service Tax, Kerala Zone 2. Commissioner of Customs, Cochin. 3. Addl. Commissioner of Customs, Cochin 4. Addl. Commissioner of Customs (CCO), Cochin. 5. Deputy Commissioner of Customs (Airport), Cochin. 6. Deputy Commissioner of Customs (ACC), Cochin.