KOLKATA CUSTOMS COMMITTED TO EXCELLENCE KOLKATA CUSTOMS COMMITTED TO EXCELLENCE 2� KOLKATA CUSTOMS u COMMITTED TO EXCELLENCE FOREWORD This is the first Coffee Table Book of Kolkata Customs brought out on the occasion of International Customs Day, 2019. The Coffee Table Book depicts and tells the history and work done by Kolkata Customs at Port, Airport, Land and Marine Divisions in collection of reve- nue, anti-smuggling, countering export/ import offences, trade facilitation and passenger clearance. Kolkata Customs plays a vital role in strengthening eco- nomic security and national security. The Coffee Table Book also informs about future plans and direction of Kolkata Customs. (MANISH CHANDRA) Commissioner of Customs (Port, Airport & Administration) Custom House Kolkata KOLKATA CUSTOMS u COMMITTED TO EXCELLENCE �3� PROJECT COORDINATION 27/B, SIDHPURA INDUSTRIAL ESTATE, NEAR SRL DIAGNOSTICS CENTRE, OFF S. V. ROAD, GOREGAON WEST, MUMBAI - 400062 | TEL: 022-28729291 TITLE KOLKATA CUSTOMS COMMITTED TO EXCELLENCE DESIGNERS VISHWAS MACHIVALE VINAYAK DHURI MARKETING TEAM MK JAIKUMAR 9594987725 [email protected] APURBA CHAKRAVARTHY 9830045650/7980388433 [email protected] PRINTED AT PRINT HOUSE, MUMBAI 4� KOLKATA CUSTOMS u COMMITTED TO EXCELLENCE CONTENTS 06 CHAPTER 1 Organisation 08 CHAPTER 2 Genesis 18 CHAPTER 3 Commissionerate of Customs (Port) 52 CHAPTER 4 Commissionerate of Customs (Airport & Administration) 58 CHAPTER 5 Commissionerate of Customs (Preventive), West Bengal 80 CHAPTER 6 The Future and Next Generation Trade Facilitations 84 CHAPTER 7 Kolkata Customs Club KOLKATA CUSTOMS u COMMITTED TO EXCELLENCE �5� 6� KOLKATA CUSTOMS u COMMITTED TO EXCELLENCE ORGANISATION The Kolkata Customs Zone is headed by a Chief Commissioner. There are three Commissionerates, namely, Kolkata (Port), Kolkata (Airport & Administration) & Commissionerate of Customs (Preventive) or CCP, West Bengal, each having their own jurisdic- tion headed by a Commissioner. The subordinate cadre consists of the Appraising wing which is chiefly entrusted with the assessment and collection of revenue, the Preventive wing, for prevention of smuggling activities and the ministerial staff who help in administration and the upkeep of office affairs. The Special Investigation Branch (SIB) is tasked with countering commercial frauds and smuggling. CCP, West Bengal is in charge of land borders and responsible for Customs border controls. Kolkata Customs comprises of around three thousand officers and personnel spread across its various formations. Kolkata Customs also processes imports and exports by individ- uals and companies through International Post and Courier at Air Cargo and Foreign Post Office in Kolkata. Custom House, Kolkata KOLKATA CUSTOMS u COMMITTED TO EXCELLENCE �7� 8� KOLKATA CUSTOMS u COMMITTED TO EXCELLENCE Custom House Wharf, Coloured Lithograph by Charles D’ Oyly, Collector of Customs, 1919 GENESIS GENESIS OF THE OLD CUSTOM HOUSE In 1696, the old Fort William, situated in Kolkata on the bank of river Hooghly was under the control of the Nawab of Bengal, Ibrahim Khan. He invited Job Charnock, an employee and administrator of the English East India Company to Kolkata from Madras, to lend naval and military support against the rising rebel Shobha Singh, a formidable landlord of Burdwan. The East India Company in return extracted several concessions from Ibrahim Khan, including the right to fortification and took over possession of the old fort and named it Fort William in honour of King William the III of England. Since 1654, East India Company had already been collecting Customs rev- enue from Madras Presidency. They started collecting Customs revenue in old fort William too. KOLKATA CUSTOMS u COMMITTED TO EXCELLENCE �9� 10� KOLKATA CUSTOMS u COMMITTED TO EXCELLENCE GENESIS Richard Bacher, an Englishman, was appointed on 3 March, 1758, as the Sea and Land Customs Master in Kolkata to look into the business of the Customs Department. He felt the need for having a Customs office at some convenient place so that all goods brought by water should first enter into the Custom House and after the boats had been properly exam- ined by the Customs Master, goods would be permit- ted to be landed. Accordingly, Holwell’s House adja- cent to the old ditch, at Tank Square was temporari- ly used but later found inconvenient. Present day ‘Lal Dighi’ opposite to Writers’ Building was known as the Park or Tank Square. HOOGHLY RIVER AT LOW TIDE ALONG CUSTOM HOUSE GHAT - CALCUTTA (KOLKATA) 1865 KOLKATA CUSTOMS u COMMITTED TO EXCELLENCE �11� SAILING SHIPS AND OTHER BOATS DOCKED ALONG RIVER HOOGHLY In an important meeting held on 5 May 1766, a pro- posal was made for converting the previously named Fort William into a Custom House. A number of ware- houses and other buildings were erected within the fort. An instruction issued by the Customs House in February 1807, reads as “no goods whatever import- ed at Calcutta from sea, or for exportation from Calcutta by sea, will, in future, allowed to be landed at, or shipped from any other Ghat, but that to the south of the Custom House at Calcutta.” It is under- stood that the Ghat referred to was the ‘Old Fort Ghat’ adjacent to the Fort. Present day ‘Koila Ghat’ Street (believed to be derived from ‘Kellaghat’, ‘Kella’ means fort in Bengali) bears the legacy of the bygone era. 12� KOLKATA CUSTOMS u COMMITTED TO EXCELLENCE GENESIS KOLKATA CUSTOMS u COMMITTED TO EXCELLENCE �13� Customs House, Hoogly, Calcutta Port (Circa 1942). Oil on canvas by C. Vijay Varma. 14� KOLKATA CUSTOMS u COMMITTED TO EXCELLENCE GENESIS KOLKATA CUSTOMS u COMMITTED TO EXCELLENCE �15� The foundation stone of the old Custom House Building converted from the fort was laid by Lord Hastings on 12 February 1819. It was situated on the river bank and contiguous to the anchorage of trad- ing vessels to the port of Kolkata. Sir Charles D’Oyly (1781-1845) was the Collector of Customs at that time. He is best remembered today for his panoram- ic paintings of Kolkata. In 1899, the Custom House was renovated and re-es- tablished in the same place where it was earlier erected in 1819. It continued there till Customs work was shifted to the pres- ent day Custom House in 1942. The laws relating to the levy of Customs duty, valuation, penal provisions and en- forcement were first compiled and enact- ed in 1878. These laws were confined only to Sea Customs and the statute was known as the Sea Customs Act, 1878. It was fol- lowed by enactments of other Acts until their repeal & amalgamation in 1962. In the year 1906, the Government of India constituted the Imperial Customs Service (ICS), after considering the views of the Maritime Provincial Governments and the Chambers of Commerce. This was done with the objective of combining in one service, the appointment of Collector of Customs at Calcutta, Madras, Bombay, Customs Memorial of 19th Century, Still on display in the Chief Commissioner’s Room 16� KOLKATA CUSTOMS u COMMITTED TO EXCELLENCE GENESIS Rangoon, Karachi and Chittagong; 15 Assistant Collectors at these ports and Superintendents of Preventive Service at Calcutta and Bombay. After independence, the ICS was re-designated as Indian Customs Service; followed by the constitution of Indian Central Excise Service in the year 1955. These two services were merged in the year 1959 when the Indian Customs and Central Excise Service was born. The service has since been re-designated as the Indian Revenue Service (Customs & Central Excise) and now Indian Revenue Service (Indirect Tax and Customs) after the introduction of Goods and Services Tax in 2017. Kolkata Customs counters smuggling of contraband, restricted and prohibited goods including arms and ammunition as well as narcotics through Kolkata Port, Airport and Land. Kolkata Customs is supported in its anti-smuggling and anti-commercial fraud operations by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) formation in Kolkata. DRI is the intelligence wing of Indian Customs having all India jurisdiction. Customs Memorial Of 19Th Century; The Clock That Never Stops - Kept In Chief Commissioner’s Room KOLKATA CUSTOMS u COMMITTED TO EXCELLENCE �17� KOLKATA CUSTOMS PORT COMMISSIONERATE The jurisdiction of Port Commissionerate covers Ports of Kolkata, Haldia, Budge Budge, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, the area under the jurisdiction of Kolkata, Howrah and South Suburban Corporations, so much of the Hooghly river as is downstream of the Northern limit of Kolkata Port and all lands as are within 10 kilometres of high water mark at spring tide on either side of the river. In terms of revenue collection, the Kolkata Customs (Port) formation contributes nearly 90% of the revenue collected in the Kolkata Customs Zone. SITES FOR CLEARANCE OF EXPORT-IMPORT CARGO Netaji Subhas Docks (NSD), Kolkata (Containerized cargo) ,Kidderpore Docks (KPD), Kolkata (Loose and/or bulk cargo), Haldia Dock Complex (HDC), Budge Budge, Port Blair & Andaman & Nicobar Islands and the various Container Freight Stations (CFS) at Kolkata and Haldia. The Kolkata and Haldia Dock Systems make up the only Major Riverine Port in the country. Kolkata Dock System (KDS) comprises three docks – Netaji Subhas Dock (NSD) with 10 berths and Kidderpore Dock (KPD) with 18 berths, along with Budge Budge (BB) Jetties with six berths. Both KPD and NSD have a lock gate each through which the vessels enter and exit. 18� KOLKATA CUSTOMS u COMMITTED TO EXCELLENCE PORT COMMISSIONERATE KOLKATA CUSTOMS u COMMITTED TO EXCELLENCE �19� • The average draft at NSD is about 25 ft. The max- • NSD is equipped with three mobile harbour cranes imum dimension of vessels accepted at NSD is 565 (MHC), and each MHC is capable of handling 20 ft. LOA (length overall) and 80 ft. BOA (beam over- containers per hour. All in all, it has three MHC all i.e. the overall width of the ship measured at berths and two non-MHC berths as of now. It is the widest point of the nominal waterline), where- also bolstered with a towering 125 ft.